• Ariel Fuentes, Karina Sequeira, and Alejandro Tapia.
• Instituto de Investigaciones Materno Infantil, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
• Rev Med Chil. 2019 Feb 1; 147 (2): 168-172.

BackgroundPostponement of motherhood is one of the most striking sociodemographic changes of modernity.AimTo evaluate the age of primiparous women giving birth at a public hospital in Santiago, Chile.Material And MethodsRetrospective study, assessing the age and nationality of all women whose delivery occurred between 2009 and 2017 in a single hospital.ResultsA total of 49,254 deliveries were registered: 43% were in primiparous women (73% Chilean and 27% foreign women). The proportion of foreign women increased from 12% in 2009 to more than 60% of total deliveries in 2017. Four percent of primiparous women were aged over 35 years of age and there was a steady increase in the age increase of primiparous women in the nine years of study. There was a higher proportion of normal-weight newborns among foreign women compared to their Chilean counterparts (86 and 81% respectively).ConclusionsIn this sample of women attended at a public hospital, a steady increase in the age at first delivery was noted in a period of nine years. There was also a constant increase in the proportion of foreign women giving birth.

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