As the owner of Cravings maternity and baby boutique and a mother of two, Jordana Jacobson is a busy entrepreneur.
Like many modern Canadian women, she had her first child at an older age than women of previous decades.
“As I got into my 20s I was in university. Still, when I was 24 I wanted to get back into the workforce or start my career, so I waited until my 30s,” Jacobson said.
“Establishing my career was super important. I wanted to get myself in a good position; also my husband was going to school. So, somebody has to earn the money,” she said.
A third of Canadian women are waiting to have their first child until after the age of 30, Statistics Canada says. In 1990, the average age of a mother at first birth was 26.
Jacobson fits the trend. She says despite her mother having her first child in her 20s, she had her first at 31.
Now, University of Saskatchewan researchers Karen Lawson and Pamela Downe want to know if that national trend holds true in this province.
“What we’re hoping to find is that women will be able to tell us the things that were most important to them as they were making their reproductive decisions,” Lawson said.
The researchers plan on interviewing 60 women across the province between the ages of 18 and 45, asking why and how they decided on the timing of motherhood.
Once that’s complete they plan on surveying 1,000 women across Canada who are childless, but plan on having children.
“I’m particularly interested in looking at what are some of the cultural dynamics that come to play as women make those decisions,” Downe said.
The pair want to educate women on fertility and their options. They pointed out that chances for pregnancy start to decline after age 28.
They hope the research will provide insight on the values that were most important to women when deciding to start or not start a family.
