Latest study suggests, the risk of having a child with Autism is high with pregnancy complications and late deliveries.
Researchers say that with the increase in age, the role of the father may also be important.The study appears in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
The mothers of autistic children have suffered diabetes or bleeding during pregnancy in many cases.
The review was done at the Harvard School of Public Health. They said that there was “insufficient evidence” and the cause of the condition is unclear.
Increased risk for older mothers was noted in nine out of thirteen studies. The risk is 27% higher for those aged between 30-34 when compared to those aged 25-29. This is over 100 per cent higher in those who are over the age of 40.
The chances of a child with autism for fathers increase by 4 per cent every five years. Associations with medication use with, a particularly strong link with drugs for psychiatric problems was found during the study.
Gestational diabetes affects four in 100 pregnancies. This is a factor causing autism. Bleeding in pregnancy carries an 81% increased risk.
Hannah Gardner, the lead author of the study said, “The rising prevalence, coupled with the severe emotional and financial impact on the families, underscores the need for large, prospective, population-based studies with the goal of elucidating the modifiable risk factors, particularly those during the prenatal period,” she added “Future investigations of prenatal exposures should also collect DNA to study potential gene-environment interactions.”
Richard Mills of Research Autism said “Age is a very interesting line of inquiry, but it is very hard to tease out one clear factor. It is like trying to complete a huge jigsaw puzzle – we still just don’t know how all the pieces fit together.”

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