Schools should teach girls to have babies in their 20s, says consultant obstetrician

Schools should teach girls to have babies in their 20s, rather than waiting until their 30s to start a family, a consultant obstetrician at the National Maternity Hospital

Professor Fionnuala McAuliffe said that women should consider getting pregnant earlier to avoid potential fertility problems.

She said that her message is aimed at women who are in a stable relationship but are deferring motherhood until later life.

She says couples should consider starting a family earlier.

"It's really just making people aware that starting in the late 20s and early 30s will increase the chances of having the family that people would like," she said.

"If a woman starts a family in her late 20s, she's going to get pregnant easier - she won't have fertility problems like she would, we'll say, in her late 30s.

"The pregnancy outcome will be better - she'll be less likely to have problems with growth and diabetes and problems with overweight and so on."