Early marriage poses a challenge towards ensuring safe motherhood

BSS, Dhaka

Rubi is a resident of Faridpur upazila of Pabna district. She is 20 years’ old. Three years ago, she had given birth to a male baby. She is again expecting. All members of the family expect that she would give birth to a female child this time. But an ultrasonogram report says that she would give birth to a male child this time too.
Knowing this information, all became disappointed. Negligence of in-laws towards Rubi started growing with the passage of time. And then the expected date of delivery was nearing. Everyone was thinking that the baby would be born at home.
An elderly ‘dai’ (birth attendant) of the village had been informed of the matter. But Rubi was not keeping well due to lack of nutrition and proper care. Her husband Shahan Mia, on an emergency basis, took her to a clinic at the upazila headquarters by a van rickshaw. And at last Rubi gave birth to a healthy male child at the clinic.
Incidents of early marriage are still happening in rural areas of the country although early marriage is prohibited legally, and after getting married adolescent girls become mothers for which they face various health complications. Around 50 percent of the girls are getting married before the age of 18 although the child marriage act disallows marriage before the legal age of 18 for girls, according to a latest millennium development goal (MDG) report.
Around 20,000 women die every year during delivery and most of them die of severe bleeding, infections, obstructed labour and due to consequences of unsafe abortion. Besides, about 18 percent women suffer from pregnancy-related complications.
Bangladesh witnessed a sharp decline in maternal mortality rate (MMR) from 574 (per 1, 000 live births) in 1990 to 391 in 2002, but experts say the ratio was not up to the desired level. Given the situation, the government has taken massive awareness programmes focusing on char areas and the districts of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) aimed at reaching healthcare facilities to the doorsteps of rural people. The programmes include increasing the number of health professionals, and training programmes for nurses, doctors and health workers. The government took safe motherhood and population control programmes aimed at reducing maternal mortality rate (MMR) at 143 in 1, 000 and 21 in each 1,000 live births to achieve millennium development goals (MDG-5) by 2015.