Early childbearing, high fertility rates and inadequate access to maternal health services are the main contributing factors in the high number of maternal deaths among young women in Malawi. Girls aged 15-19 years are twice as likely to die during childbirth as women 20 years and above. Coupled with HIV, complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death for young women aged 15-19 years

In Malawi, adolescent fertility rates are high and estimated at 136 per 1000 births

Unsafe abortion because of unwanted pregnancy is also common among adolescents which is an indicator of girls’ and women’s unmet need for contraception.