Having Babies at 60? Wow

TRENTON, N.J. - A 60-year-old woman became a mother, twice over, when she delivered a pair of boys Tuesday.

Frieda Birnbaum gave birth to “Baby A” at 12:44 p.m. and “Baby B” a minute later by Caesarean section at Hackensack University Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Nancy Radwin said. The twins each weighed 4 pounds, 11 ounces, she said.

“The mom is in recovery, and she and the babies are doing really well,” Radwin said, declining a request to speak with the mother.

Hospital officials believe Birnbaum may be the oldest woman to give birth to twins in the United States, Radwin said.

Birnbaum, a psychologist from Saddle River, underwent in-vitro fertilization last year in Cape Town, South Africa, at a center that specializes in older women. She and her husband, Ken, a New York attorney, have been married for 38 years and have three other children — sons ages 6 and 33 and a daughter, 29.

Birnbaum told Fox News she wanted her younger son to have siblings closer to his age and wanted to remove some of the stigma attached to older women giving birth.

Coincidentally, Tuesday was the birthday of twins born one year ago to a 59-year-old woman — also to a New Jersey woman. Lauren Cohen gave birth to Gregory and Giselle on May 22, 2006, at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia.

Does Health After 50 Matter?

Well, read this post from Fitness-After-50.com

Startling Facts About Becoming A Physically Fit Baby Boomer

Here are some benefits you can look forward to when you start exercising on a regular basis:

# Reduced risk of premature death (that’s a really big one!)
# Improved psychological well-being
# Reduced depression and anxiety
# Enhanced work, recreation, and sports performance
# Reduced risk of developing diabetes
# Reduced risk of heart disease
# Positive changes in blood cholesterol
# Improved balance and strength
# Improved range of motion (ability to reach and bend)
# More energy
# Reduced body fat
# Improved weight control
# Reduced risk of developing colon and breast cancers

Men at age 50

Once you hit 50, its time to start taking your examines seriously. “An annual physical exam is not simply a time for doctors to examine men for obvious or hidden illness,” says Dr. Gary Dorshimer, an internist at Pennsylvania Hospital in Phila-delphia. “It’s also an opportunity to discuss symptoms to look for and the importance of preventative care.”

Beginning at age 50, risk of developing cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses greatly increases, he says. Besides an annual physical exam that includes blood pressure screening, several routine tests can help 50+ men maintain good health.

Come on men, it's worth it.

Top Priorities for Staying Healthy

I've personally found the following 3 tips to be most beneficial in keeping myself balanced.

Happiness makes you healthy. It's trite-sounding, but supported by health behaviour experts and mounds of research. If you're happy with life, and have a healthy self-esteem, you'll be less stressed and less likely to develop bad habits that lead to health problems. It's a message politicians don't like as it doesn't allow for quick fixes.

Look after your teeth. Having a healthy, sparkling set of gnashers does wonders for your self-esteem and quality of life as you get older. But there's also increasingly persuasive evidence (and I started out a sceptic) that the bacteria that lurk in unhealthy teeth play a part in prompting heart disease and stroke. They may also be linked to some cancers and auto- immune diseases such as diabetes. Even if it's not true, it won't kill you to floss.

There's not much that exercise won't improve. We're bombarded with health education messages about everything from heart disease to cancer, but unless you have significant joint problems, one single piece of advice will help to prevent or treat most malaises you can think of: exercise more than you are at the moment. Finding time and motivation is the tricky bit.