Objective: Analysis of the infl uence of age changes from younger parturients to older ones on the perinatal care results. Design: Retrospective epidemiological study of maternal age and other selected indicators. Setting: Institute for the Care of Mother and Child, Prague 4 – Podolí. Methods: Comparison of selected biological and social risk factors, obstetrical interventions, and perinatal mortality in maternal age groups. Results: During the shift from younger to older groups of parturients there is consistent pattern of higher perinatal mortality among the youngest and older ones. The same pattern is preserved while analysed by social risk factors and risk factors from obstetrical history. In contrast, most of selected obstetrical parameters increased continuously with the increasing age of mother. The fi nal perinatal mortality fi gure is a result of complex infl uence of all negative factors and the obstetrical intervention to paralyse them. The recent shift from the youngest mothers to older groups has had some positive impact, however the further increase of mothers 30 years old and older may show some negative infl uence on perinatal care results. Conclusion: The age shift among parturients from younger to older age groups contributed to decrease of perinatal mortality in the Czech Republic in late nineties. We suggest a possible negative infl uence of further increase of pregnant women 30 years old and older on the current results of perinatal care.

        Key words: age of parturient, risk factors, obstetrical intervention, perinatal death