Health Risks of Early Marriage

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Early marriage is still the norm in many parts of the world. Early marriage usually leads to early motherhood. In many developing countries, at least 20 per cent of women—in some countries about half of all women—give birth to their first child before age 18. Expectations from parents, in-laws and society are to produce a child as soon after marriage as possible. Many young wives feel pressure to bear sons. This typically results in pregnancies being spaced too closely together, in addition to occurring too soon in the young mother’s life. In developing countries, more than half a million women die every year from pregnancy-related causes. There are four important reasons for these deaths. Births are either "too soon, too close, too many, or too late". Statistically, it is young women who most often die during pregnancy. Women who marry or enter union at a young age are likely to have husbands who are much older than they are—up to 15 years older in some countries. This difference in age reduces the chance that the woman will be able to participate in decisions about childbearing or be able to negotiate the use of contraceptives.