Childbirth at an early age is associated with greater health risks for the mother. The principal cause of death in young women aged 15–19 years In low- and middle-income houses is complications of pregnancy and childbirth. The baby’s health also is adversely effected in the case of adolescent childbearing.

Perinatal deaths are 50% higher among babies born to mothers under 20 years of age than among those born to mothers aged 20–29 years. Adolescent girls are likely to give birth to babies with low birth weight who might have life-long health issues. Unintentional pregnancies can result in unsafe abortions. Girls have to be empowered to resist coerced sex. Girls have to be given age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education. The community as a whole needs to be educated to understand the importance of keeping girls in school. Cultural norms that support early marriage can be countered through community mobilization drives.

Health problems	Issues to maternal health	Issues to infant health
Pregnancy too early	Complications in pregnancy, death	Perinatal death, low birth weight
Unintended pregnancy	Morbidity related to complications of unsafe abortion (may lead to death), psychosocial consequences	Less attention to care of self and unborn child during pregnancy, with adverse effects on infant and child health
Short birth intervals (less than 24 months)	Complications during pregnancy (e.g. preterm labour), increased likelihood of depression	Prematurity, fetal death, low birth weight, small size for gestational age (associated with birth intervals of less than 6–18 months), increased risk of neonatal and post neonatal (1 month–1 year) death

Health problems	Preventive interventions	Delivery mechanisms
Girls married early	Keeping girls in school, influencing cultural norms that support early marriage through community mobilization	Community settings; mass media
Lack of understanding of (and lack of support for) need to prevent pregnancy before age 20 years	Visible, high-level support for pregnancy prevention programmes; educating girls and boys about sexuality; building community support for preventing early pregnancy	Community settings such as school and community programmes; mass media
Low use of modern contraceptives	Educating adolescents about sexuality, sexual and reproductive health and contraceptive use; building community support for contraceptive provision to adolescents; enabling adolescents to obtain contraceptive services	Community settings such as school and community programmes; mass media; adolescent-friendly health facilities.
Girls coerced into having sex	Empowering girls to resist coerced sex; changing social norms that condone coerced sex; engaging men and boys to critically assess norms and practices regarding gender-based violence and coerced sex	Community programmes (including programmes with small groups); mass media.
Short birth intervals (less than 24 months)	Educating women and couples about dangers to the baby and mother of short birth intervals; provision of contraception	Primary care facilities; community settings