Being a mother accelerates the ageing process.
Pregnancy speeds up the ageing process in women
New research has discovered that each pregnancy increases a female's biological age by two to three months although no such impact was seen in men.
Scientists at New York's Columbia University figured out the biological age of 1,735 young people in the Philippines by studying their 'epigenetic clocks' and analysis revealed that each additional pregnancy during early adulthood quickened the process by several months.
The study's lead author Dr. Calen Ryan said: "Epigenetic clocks have revolutionised how we study biological ageing across the lifesource and open up new opportunities to study how and when long-term health costs of reproduction and other life events take hold.
"Our findings suggest pregnancy speeds up biological ageing, and that these effects are apparent in young, high-fertility women.
"Our results are also the first to follow the same women through time, linking changes in each woman's pregnancy number to changes in her biological age."