Early marriage and adolescent pregnancy in Mozambique

Abstract

Early marriage and adolescent pregnancies are prevailing phenomena in Mozambique, with 48% and 40% of girls aged 20-24 marrying and getting pregnant before the age of 18. Using a cross-sectional survey in Maganja da Costa and Morrumbala districts, Zambézia Province, and descriptive and inferential statistics for data analysis, the study revealed that around 65% of adolescent became pregnant at the age of 15-17. Among these adolescent, 18.8% had their first baby before turning 15 and 99.2% before their 18th birthday. Of the respondents, 23% experienced health complications after birth. A further 71.5% said they did not, and 5.5% were 'not applicable'. Referring to their education, 55.9% of adolescents finished primary education, 39.9% completed secondary education, and 2.9% achieved some higher education qualification. When asked if they were going to school while initially pregnant, 58.7% responded "yes", 39.7% responded "no," and 1.6% answered "not applicable" as they had never gone to school. After delivery, 31.6% returned to school, and 66.8% did not. This supports the assumption that early marriage and adolescent pregnancies are potential drivers for school dropout, low education and adverse pregnancy and birth health outcomes. Girls' education can act as a protective factor in delaying early marriage and adolescent pregnancy. School retention of girls should be monitored, therefore contributing towards gender parity in education.