The Countess of Wessex joins a long list of mothers in the public eye who have given birth over the age of 40.
Singer Madonna gave birth at 42, novelist Helen Fielding at 43 and former prime minister's wife Cherie Blair at 45.
While the number of women over 40 giving birth has more than doubled since 1986, it is not always clear whether they have conceived naturally or undergone IVF, perhaps with donor eggs.
And, even though it is perfectly possible to have a healthy child after 40, the risk of complications in pregnancy do increase with age.
Older mothers are much more likely to miscarry, with some studies putting the risk at one in three pregnancies.
The chance of giving birth prematurely also rises, which can create health and developmental problems for the child.
Then there is the risk of chromosomal abnormalities resulting in conditions like Down's Syndrome.
Tests such as amniocentesis are carried out during pregnancy to check for a range of chromosomal conditions that are more common among older mothers.
The chance of suffering an ectopic pregnancy - like the Countess did in 2001 - also increases, as does the risk of stillbirth.
Illnesses associated with pregnancy are also more common, including pre-eclampsia, which causes abnormally high blood pressure and can prove dangerous for mother and child.
Setting aside problems in pregnancy, older women can struggle to get pregnant in the first place.
This is because a woman's fertility declines as she ages, making it increasingly difficult to get pregnant naturally as she passes the age 35 mark.
But figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the fertility rate for older women is still going up.
Last year, the rate for women aged 40 to 44 in England and Wales was 11.4 live births per 1,000 women.
Figures released in June also showed that the number of women aged 40 and over undergoing fertility treatment has risen dramatically.
In 1991, there were 596 cycles of IVF among women aged 40 to 45 using their own fresh eggs but, in last year, the figure was 6,174.
Across all ages, women aged 40 to 45 accounted for 9.2% of the total number of IVF cycles in 1991, rising to to 15.5% in 2006.
The statistics were released by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), but did show that IVF success rates among the over-40s remain low.
Last July, a 62-year-old child psychiatrist became the oldest woman in Britain to have a baby.
Patricia Rashbrook of Lewes, East Sussex, gave birth to a 6lb 10oz baby boy.
In December, a 67-year-old Spanish woman was reported to have given birth to twins in Barcelona after fertility treatment.
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