Royal baby ‘too soon’

Press, 12 November 1981, Page 10

Royal baby ‘too soon’

By

ANNABEL FERRIMAN.

luunuun The Prince and Princess of Wales should have waited longer before deciding to have children, to set an example to other young newlyweds, according to a consultant obstetrician. . Young couples needed to get to know each other well before bringing a third person into the world, Dr WendySavage, senior lecturer in obstetrics at the London Hospital Medical School, told the Socialist Health Association in London.

So many young couples had children immediately after getting married and then split up, causing misery to each other and their children. If the Prince and Princess could have waited, it might have encouraged other young couples to do so, she said. Dr Savage was speaking on the prevention of birth defects and perinatal care. She said that the fairy-tale quality of the Royal romance would encourage young people, especially young

girls, to try to imitate them. The wedding in July had created a sense of national unity and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s statement that marriage required not only romance but also hard work was so sensible that it would have been useful if the Royal couple could have set an example by waiting, she said. Dr Savage said that the Princess’s age of 20 was a good one at which to have a baby, the safest age for childbearing being between 20 and 30.