Document Type

Report

Publication Date

2009

Abstract

Pregnancy and childbearing continue to occur in adolescence for considerable proportions of women in India. The dangers of childbearing for adolescent girls, whose bodies have not physically matured, are widely acknowledged. Yet, little is known about whether morbidity and mortality experiences vary within the subgroup of adolescent girls, whether such experiences differ between adolescent and adult women of similar parity, and whether treatment-seeking behaviors and the delays experienced in seeking treatment differ between adolescent and adult mothers. To begin to fill this gap, the Population Council undertook an exploratory study of the pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality experiences of women who delivered in early adolescence (below 17 years), late adolescence (17–19 years), and adulthood (25–29 years), and the constraints they faced in seeking appropriate and timely care. As noted in this report, the study was conducted in Rajasthan, India, a state characterized by a high maternal mortality ratio and low age at marriage.

DOI

10.31899/pgy15.1003

Language

English

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