A group of gynecologists yesterday expressed concern that the average age of pregnant women in Taiwan was rising.
Mackay Memorial Hospital Gynecologist Huang Min-chao (黃閔照) cited statistics from the Ministry of the Interior that showed that 190,000 babies were born in Taiwan last year, a record low in the nation’s history.
The same statistics showed that 13 percent of pregnant women, or about 26,000, were “older pregnant women,” defined as women older than 35.
“Many young couples do not want to have kids, and when they do, they usually are too old and have to rely on medical help. The older a pregnant woman is, the more danger there will be for her and for the baby,” said Tsai Hong-te (蔡鴻德), chairman for the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
“Being pregnant should be something joyful, but these potential dangers can become something that makes a couple and their families worry,” he said.
The gynecologists, meanwhile, called on celebrities not to share information about their pregnancies on TV, because it is often inaccurate and misleading.
“Many pregnant women follow [incorrect] information shared by entertainers or celebrities on TV. Only after that do they turn to professionals, which makes our jobs more difficult,” said Hsu Chin-yuan (徐金源), another gynecologist at Mackay Memorial Hospital.
Kang Ning General Hospital President Yin Chang-sheng (尹長生) said that while pregnant women should obtain as much information as possible, they should allow gynecologists to do their job.
“Both sides want to make the pregnancy easy and successful,” Yin said.
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Taiwan’s population last year shrank further and births continued to decline to a yearly low, the Ministry of the Interior announced today. The ministry published the 2024 population demographics statistics, highlighting record lows in births and bringing attention to Taiwan’s aging population. The nation’s population last year stood at 23,400,220, a decrease of 20,222 individuals compared to 2023. Last year, there were 134,856 births, representing a crude birth rate of 5.76 per 1,000 people, a slight decline from 2023’s 135,571 births and 5.81 crude birth rate. This decrease of 715 births resulted in a new record low per the ministry’s data. Since 2016, which saw
SECURITY: To protect the nation’s Internet cables, the navy should use buoys marking waters within 50m of them as a restricted zone, a former navy squadron commander said A Chinese cargo ship repeatedly intruded into Taiwan’s contiguous and sovereign waters for three months before allegedly damaging an undersea Internet cable off Kaohsiung, a Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) investigation revealed. Using publicly available information, the Liberty Times was able to reconstruct the Shunxing-39’s movements near Taiwan since Double Ten National Day last year. Taiwanese officials did not respond to the freighter’s intrusions until Friday last week, when the ship, registered in Cameroon and Tanzania, turned off its automatic identification system shortly before damage was inflicted to a key cable linking Taiwan to the rest of
RSS