A woman who is 35 years of age or older and pregnant for the first time. In the past, women were informed that delaying childbearing until age 35 or more would greatly increase the chance of an adverse outcome of pregnancy. A well-controlled study of the outcome of first pregnancy in this age group indicates little, if any, increased risk of adverse fetal outcome. The women themselves had significantly more antepartum and intrapartum complications than younger women. The women studied were private patients who were predominantly white, college educated, married, nonsmoking, and had had excellent prenatal care.