Determinants and impact of early marriage on mother and her newborn in an urban area of Davangere: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Early marriage is a long established custom in India. In spite of the legislations prohibiting early marriages, the prevalence of child marriages in our country is 30.2%, with the highest prevalence in Rajasthan (35.4%) and lowest in Himachal Pradesh (0.5%).Thus, this study was undertaken to study the prevalence, determinants and impact of early marriage on the mother and her newborn in an urban area of Davangere. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of 6 months in the Urban Family Welfare Centre, Doddapete. A total of 900 mothers were interviewed with the help of pre- designed and semi-structured questionnaire after taking informed consent. Results: The prevalence of child marriage in the present study was found to be 13% with 81% mothers belonging to lower socio- economic status and 77% belonging to Muslim religion. Most (62%) mothers married before the age of 18 years due to economic reasons. 54% of the mothers who married before the age of 18 years faced complications during delivery. 6% of the mothers married before the age of 18 years gave birth to low birth weight babies. Conclusions: The literacy and socio-economic status of the mother and her parents was observed as a major determinant in deciding the age at marriage. In spite of the prevailing religious traditions and socio-cultural influences that promote child marriage, an attempt should be made to educate the community regarding the medical and legal aspects of early marriage.

Early Marriage Determinants and Effects on Mothers and their Offspring in Beni-Suef City

“…Parents' educational level: 47.4% and 78.3% of participant's fathers and mothers were illiterate respectively (Table 1), similar to the reported 46% and 77% illiterate fathers and mothers in a study conducted in an urban Indian area among 900 participants [14].…”

Reproductive health and birth practices among early married females: A cross-sectional study in Jaipur India

“…12 Furthermore, in our study, the results have been found to be consistent with other studies primarily because poor families often tend to think that marrying their girl child early, will provide social and financial security to their daughters. 23 Cultural family structure, weak authority of females, and responsibility to fulfill needs, also forces parents of a girl child to marry their child at a younger age. 24 In our study, it was observed that husbands who were involved in labor as well as those having education till high school were more likely to marry females less than the national legal age for marriage.…”

One household, two worlds: Differences of perception towards child marriage among adolescent children and adults in Indonesia

“…One study found that people with low incomes in Vietnam tend to be younger than people in middle- and higher-income families [13] . A study in India reported that literacy and socio-economic status of the mother and her parents were a major determinant in deciding the age at marriage [8] . A study also reported that poverty and poor education are underlying causes of child marriage, which is usually against the will of girls who desire to be educated [14] .…”

“…Another study reported that early marriage reduces the chances of the woman completing her education and thereby minimising her chances of earning a decent livelihood. This leads to a vicious cycle where poverty and low literacy levels are coupled with religious, social, and cultural influences which lead to a higher prevalence of early marriages [8] .…”