Girls in these areas are constantly worried about not being able to pursue their studies or to choose their own husbands. There are girls who, at 20, have already experienced two to three divorces. Some explain that they acquiesced to marriage on condition that their studies were not interrupted, but their husbands forgot the promise soon after the wedding. Poverty, economic difficulties and low education explain why parents give their girl children away into early marriage, oblivious of the fact that early marriage entails an early pregnancy that exposes the young girl to eclampsia, a disease that is often fatal. According to Dr Andr Edou, the disease mostly affects young pregnant girls under 16.
Eclampsia is a pregnancy-related pathology characterised by an epileptic crisis.
The doctor further revealed that death from eclampsia is high in Africa. I saw the highest number of cases of in my life in Garoua, northern province. At the hospital where I worked as a gynaecologist, I sometimes had to deal with five cases at the same time. Despite these hazards, the law was not strict enough. It only provides for the payment for damages.