2026-07-01http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/412480Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) is one of five areas of focus of the World Banks Reproductive Health Action Plan 2010 - 2015 (RHAP), which recognizes the importance of addressing ASRH as a development issue with important implications for poverty reduction. Delaying childbearing and preventing unplanned pregnancies during adolescence has been shown to improve health outcomes and increase opportunities for schooling, future employment, and earnings (Greene and Merrick, 2005). Delaying childbearing and preventing unplanned pregnancies improves health outcomes and increases opportunities for schooling, future employment, and earnings. A couple of key messages were relayed in this brief. An analysis of data from six countries showed that adolescent childbearing is closely tied to marital status. Around half (ranging from 42 percent in Nepal to 55 percent in Nigeria) of ever-married adolescent women have given birth. In comparison, non-marital adolescent childbearing is rare in all countries studied. In Bangladesh and Burkina Faso, childbearing among ever-married adolescent women is positively associated with rural residence, less wealth, and less education.application/pdftext/plainCC BY 3.0 IGOhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/World BankACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICESADOLESCENCEADOLESCENTADOLESCENT CHILDBEARINGADOLESCENT FERTILITYADOLESCENT HEALTHADOLESCENT MOTHERSADOLESCENT WOMENADOLESCENT YEARSAVAILABILITY OF FAMILY PLANNINGBIRTHSCHILDBEARINGCHILDBIRTHDISEASESEARLY CHILDBEARINGEARLY MARRIAGEEARLY PREGNANCYEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEDUCATIONAL SERVICESFAMILIESFAMILY PLANNINGFEMALEFERTILITY RATEFERTILITY RATESFIRST BIRTHFISTULAGLOBAL HEALTHGYNAECOLOGYHEALTH EFFECTSHEALTH OUTCOMESHEALTH STATUSIMPLICATIONS FOR POVERTY REDUCTIONINFECTIONSINTERGENERATIONAL TRANSMISSIONINTIMATE PARTNERINTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCELOW BIRTH WEIGHTMALNUTRITIONMARITAL STATUSMARRIED ADOLESCENT WOMENMARRIED ADOLESCENTSMARRIED WOMENMATERNAL MORTALITYMATERNAL MORTALITY IN ADOLESCENTSMATERNAL MORTALITY RATIOSMOTHERNUTRITIONOBSTETRICSPOLICY DIALOGUEPOOR HEALTHPOPULATION KNOWLEDGEPREGNANCYPRENATAL CAREPRETERM DELIVERYPRIMARY EDUCATIONPROVISION OF SERVICESREPRODUCTIVE HEALTHRURAL AREASRURAL COMMUNITIESRURAL RESIDENCESOCIAL EXCLUSIONSOCIOECONOMIC DIFFERENCESSOCIOECONOMIC FACTORSUNPLANNED PREGNANCIESURBAN AREASVIOLENCEVULNERABLE POPULATIONSWORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATIONYOUNG ADOLESCENTSYOUNG COUPLESBrief