I didn't think I'd ever be posting about my job, or even posting in this thread, but I'm seeing some confusion here that I can help dispel.
I am a transcriptionist and aspiring medical transcriptionist that has on more than one occasion done work for medical professionals, including obstetricians and NICU staff. Maternal death was so frequent before the advent of what we consider "modern" medicine that women would pen their last wills before going into labor as a reasonable precaution, to say nothing of the atrocious infant mortality rates. Though advances in evidence-based medicine have greatly diminished both of these in developed nations, each still happens frequently enough that doctors must prepare accordingly.
The specialists in neonatal wards think in worst-case scenarios, ready for any complications that may arise, and the results speak for themselves. Awareness of the once-daunting risks that were commonly associated with pregnancy has dropped significantly thanks to their diligence.
Despite this optimistic trend, many specialists can still recount times when they had to sit prospective parents down and explain that their child would be dead prior to or shortly after birth, or that a pregnancy would have to be terminated in order to save the would-be mother's life.
In all likelihood, whenever they fret over something like a woman's age, they're probably just shunting their worries onto you.
Anyways, I return to my insomnia-fueled tirades about [Current Thing].