The Perils of Child Marriage


This is a young, expectant mother who lives near Butajira, Ethiopia. She was married at 13 and will deliver her first child at 15. She walked to this “lie and wait” house (pictured above) because of excessive bleeding. She lives 30 minutes up in the mountains of southern Ethiopia from the “lie and wait” house. She has never seen a health extension worker and has never been to a health post. Her experience, once again, underscores how difficult it is for Africans who live in the most remote areas of a country to access quality health care.

Her mother, who is now 38, was also married very young, at age 12. She now has eight children. Her youngest is three months old.

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