Abstract
Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) was at priority in Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of United Nations till 2015. Now it is kept on priority again under second Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) set by United Nations for 2030. There are many programmatic and social causes of maternal mortality in rural areas of Pakistan. This study explores the sociological barriers such as, early age marriages of girls. An early age marriages of girls, particularly early age deliveries is one of the key cause for maternal death. Projects of NGOs and Mother, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) program are found less focused on the early age marriages. An exploratory study was carried out using mix methods (qualitative and quantitative), in-depth interviews with mothers and key informant interviews with local maternal health workers including lady health visitors/workers, lady doctors and traditional birth attendants were conducted. A total of 385 mothers and 45 health care professionals were interviewed from different rural areas of Hyderabad division. Semi-structured interview schedule was developed having quantitative and qualitative questions. It was found that average married women give birth to first child with the space of 1.86 years. During interviews, 31.7% women said that maternal mortalities happened in their villages due to early age pregnancies. It can be concluded that marriages of girls/ women in proper or mature age can reduce maternal mortality rate up to 31.7%. On exploring the number of deaths due to early age deliveries it is was found that 112 women died due to that in Hyderabad division. Early pregnancies are found risky for both the women and the babies in womb. There is urgent need to raise community awareness and sensitization regarding this factor.
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