Arlene Phillips shamed by doctor for having child at 47: When will older mums be given a break?

Arlene Phillips has revealed she was shamed by her doctor for having a baby at the age of 47.

The former Strictly Come Dancing judge said she was treated like “some kind of freak” after falling pregnant with her second child at an older age than expected.

“I was told I would find it hard to bond with my baby when I could be the grandmother,” she told Good Housekeeping.

Arlene unexpectedly fell pregnant with daughter Abi in 1991. She remembers being “stunned” at the news as she thought she was heading for the menopause.

Now 74, the household name recalled her first appointment at London’s Royal Free Hospital: “[The doctor] told me that at my age, I should be a grandmother not a mother. That made me feel terrible.”

“I was so vulnerable. I let all these remarks go by with tears in my eyes.”

Arlene said she felt extremely self-conscious waiting for her daughter at the school gates but says she is now less bothered about being an older mum: “Perhaps that’s because it feels as though there’s less of a gap in age between women as they get older or maybe I’m just more confident these days.”

“Nowadays, being an older mother is very common. When you let all those things go, you see the absolute joy of having a baby when you’re older. You really do feel like you’ve been given a gift.”

An older mother tends to be someone who has had their first child over the age of 35. It’s hardly a rare occurrence with one in five women giving birth after turning 35.

The number of women having children in their 40s has also increased, nearly doubling in the space of a decade.

Arlene isn’t the only celebrity to have a child at a later age. Janet Jackson gave birth to her first child – son Eissa – at age 50. She joins the likes of Gwen Stefani, Tina Fey and Susan Sarandon in the over 40s mum club.

If a woman was to have a baby aged 47 in 2017, we’d hope to find a different reaction from medical professionals.

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