Since the ready availability of birth control in the 1960s, women in the west have been increasingly controlling their reproduction and their lives. This month, Britain’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) released a statement on later maternal age, urging women who intend to bear children to do so between the ages of 20 and 35.

The RCOG are only thinking of successful conception, healthy mothers and healthy babies, but to many women such a statement means do not try and have it all: youth, travel, work, love, fun, more fun, and then a baby. Two babies. Okay, maybe three.

Cooma mother Sara Feeny-Marks gave birth to her daughter, Summer, when she was nearly 38. It was only as she neared her 40s that Mrs Feeny-Marks began to consider having children.

“I can’t remember being ready before then. Waiting meant we were in a better position financially,” Mrs Feeny-Marks said.

Mrs Feeny-Marks remembers hardships of new motherhood like sleep deprivation and difficulty breastfeeding, but she experienced no age-related challenges. Statistically women over 35 have higher gestational risks including miscarriage, higher risks of neonatal defects and significantly more trouble conceiving, but Mrs Feeny-Marks fell pregnant straight away.

Mrs Feeny-Marks is one of the driving forces behind the older mothers playgroup in Cooma. The group, yet to be named, meet on the first Thursday of each month at the Salvation Army Chapel on Mittagang Road from 10am until 12.30pm. The playgroup meets today and parents of all ages and their young children are welcome.