The plot of child marriage is indeed a thick one. Off the surface, we know that is presents unfair rights to the children concerned. We know that it is created primarily by the forces of poverty in which this becomes the seemingly only option available to escape the pangs. It has also been found that it poses a risk to the girl child and birth can become so complicated that both mother and child die in the process of labour. But what happens where delivery is successful? Is the new child celebrated and all else forgotten? Not really.

Children that are born to children have a host of complications and health risks that are handed to them by their parents. From the sexual encounter to pregnancy and child birth, the mother is at a disadvantage and so is her child should the birth be successful.

Some of the complications include:

Premature Birth

This is a birth that takes place three weeks more that the estimated due date of delivery. Women younger than 18 or older than 35 have an increased chance of delivering early.  Other factors include poor nutrition, abnormal uterus, smoking and drinking during pregnancy and others. Risk factors to the premature baby cover both short term like breathing, temperature control, heart and brain problems, to long term such as dental, impaired learning, hearing and also vision challenges to name a few.

Low Birth Weight

This refers to babies that are born under 2.5kg at birth. Generally speaking 3.5kg is an average birth weight. At times low birth weight babies may be healthy but in others they become at risk of serious health issues. This means they are already disadvantaged from the onset of their lives. The causes of low birth weight are many, usually from being premature or being born too early. At times they may have been carried full term and be physically mature but still are small size. What makes this a difficult predicament is that such babies have more trouble eating, staying warm and fighting off diseases like other normal sized babies do.

High Infant Mortality

The mortality rate or simply put the death rate of infants refers to the number or frequency of deaths in a population within a specified time. For ‘babies’ that give birth to babies, it is particularly high. For every 1000 babies born to women over 20 years old in comparison to 1000 born to women under 18 years of age, the latter die in larger numbers. Babes born to teenage mothers are more likely to die in the early weeks of life than those of older women. This covers perinatal, neonatal and post-neonatal deaths. The former includes still births or death within 7 days of birth. Neonatal occurs within 28 days of birth. Lastly, post-neonatal covers death of infants above 28 days to 1 year of age.

 HIV Infection

Girls who marry older men have a 50 percent higher chance of contracting the HIV virus more than unmarried girls. This is because in as much as the unmarried girls their age are also sexually active, it is with boys nearer their age. Younger boys are less likely to have the virus since they haven’t had that many sex partners. The prevalence of HIV infection in women peaks at about 15-24 years of age whereas in men it is from about 25-35 years of age. This is because of younger women who get married to older men who are at the peak of their HIV prevalence. Obviously then it leaves younger women more vulnerable when they marry older men as is the case with child marriages.

HIV and other infections are more prevalent among these children that are born to children. This is because they often do not get registered or tested and so do not manage to get treated accordingly. They usually get married off to older men who infect them upon their first sexual encounter. The baby then gets infected and is born having a high viral load. That is a bad stage because she will not have had the chance to be given a means to prevent mother to child transmission or anti-retroviral therapy. The tomorrow of that baby is compromised too as it will have to start treatment at a very tender age. These are the children who if left untreated usually die before they reach the age of two.

Other Infections

There are certain further diseases that tend to affect children of child marriages. Commonly the young brides are married by men between the ages of 30-50 years, twice or thrice their age. These men have had various sexual relationships before, have more than one wife or extra marital relationships. This gives them a higher chance of being susceptible to various sexually transmitted infections which they then pass on to their young brides. Some affect certain parts of the body.

A list of these diseases include:

• Gonorrhea

It is a sexually transmitted and has nicknames like ‘the clap’ and ‘the drip.’ Left untreated, the mother can pass it onto her child during delivery. A child born with Gonorrhea is prone to scalp infections, upper respiratory infection, urethritis or vaginitis. They are also at risk of becoming blind for life as this disease attacks the eyes.

• Syphilis

Also sexually transmitted, syphilis affects every part of the body from inside and out, from head to foot including even the hair. It is passed on from a mother to baby during pregnancy or birth. About half of babies infected whilst in the womb of an untreated mother die shortly before or after birth, sad statistics. It is a serious disease that can cause anemia, bone damage, jaundice, nerve problems as well as meningitis.

• Chlamydia

It is typically found in young women who get it through sexual intercourse with an infected partner. It contribute to sudden Infant Death Syndrome which is the sudden unexplained death of a seemingly healthy baby. This is because it gives way to pneumonia which affects the lungs of babies.

• Herpes Simplex Infection

The virus herpes simplex causes Herpes. They also are sexually transmitted infections. The baby develops life threatening symptoms like viral meningitis and can cause damage to the liver, lungs and heart.

Social and Emotional Wellbeing

Babies that are born within a child marriage may have problems in learning new skills such as language or motor skills as they grow up. They are often not as confident as other children of their age group who are born to older girls or women.

Mental Capability

In terms of IQ theirs is lower and they generally perform worse at home.

“Currently encouraging young brides to register their pregnancies at clinics is difficult especially if the marriage has been orchestrated by a religious commune. Some members of certain sects hide these marriages and pregnancies. They in fact run off to some place in order to hide when they become aware that a health team is coming into their village. This becomes a big problem because it becomes a religious ideology, leaving the bride without any decision making power.”

The offspring of child marriages do not have a secure future. There comes about a cycle of child marriages whereby those same children also get married at too young an age. Child marriages give birth to child marriages. It continues to perpetuate itself because it is a poverty cycle which will continue until someone with a vision, be it government or parents, works towards cutting it off and eradicating it completely. It is so important that these dangers are preached to every person by whatever means possible. The journey to winning this fight against child marriages begins with empowering ourselves with knowledge.