Married at 13, pregnant and starving: Child brides of Yemen

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Fatimah* was 13 when she was married off to an older man. Two years later, she gave birth to twin daughters.

“I dreamed of going to school like other girls,” she said. “Instead, I became a wife before I had the chance to live my childhood, and a mother before I truly understood what that meant.”

For a while, life with her husband was steady, if simple. Then war tore through Yemen, closing clinics and hospitals and driving an already fragile economy into ruin. Families like Fatimah’s were pushed into destitution and hunger.

“We are witnessing a noticeable increase in cases of malnutrition among pregnant girls, especially those married at an early age,” said Reham Hazbar, a counsellor at a safe space in Al Hudaydah supported by the UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA. 

“Many arrive at health facilities suffering from low weight, anaemia and severe exhaustion, and their bodies are often not prepared to handle the demands of pregnancy.”

Severe humanitarian crisis

Yemen is one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. More than 22 million people – over half of them women and girls – need urgent help this year. 

Fewer than two thirds of health facilities are still functioning, and only one in five of those offers maternal care. 

UNFPA estimates that 1.3 million pregnant and breastfeeding women in the country are malnourished; 100,000 have been displaced from their homes, further raising the risks around childbirth.

“Many women cannot afford transport or the medicines and supplements we prescribe,” said Amira*, a health worker in Abyan. “Some girls also face social restrictions that limit their ability to access healthcare in time. And some areas lack medical staff and properly equipped facilities.”

A body that isn’t ready

Fatimah’s family fled violence again and again, until one night floods tore through the camp where they were sheltering and swept her husband away. He survived, but the trauma left him unable to work.

Suddenly Fatimah was caring for her husband and two young daughters alone, and she discovered she was pregnant again. Living in a tent with no income and no health services nearby, exhausted and anaemic, she said simply: “I feared for my baby more than I feared for myself.”

“Often, pregnant women arrive at health centres late in pregnancy or only when serious complications appear – complications that could have been prevented with early care,” Amira said.

One third married as children

Fewer than half of Yemeni women give birth in a health facility, and nearly 30 per cent get no antenatal care at all. 

Yemen has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the region. Girls often need permission from a husband or family member even to seek care, and many simply do not know why regular check-ups matter.

Almost a third of Yemeni girls are married as children, a rate that climbs even higher among displaced families. More than half the population is acutely food insecure, and severe anaemia and vitamin deficiencies among women and girls are raising the odds that babies are born underweight and vulnerable to illness.

“The women also continue to perform strenuous household and outdoor tasks, including farm work, fetching water and collecting firewood, despite their weakness and malnutrition,” Amira said. “These conditions increase health risks for both the mother and the baby.”

Weight loss, preterm birth, dangerous bleeding and poor milk production are all becoming more common. “Young age can cause additional difficulties during labour,” Amira said. “If the case requires specialized intervention, she is immediately referred to a hospital capable of handling high-risk deliveries.” 

But a referral only works if a family can actually reach the hospital and that is rarely guaranteed.

A childhood cut short

In Al-Mahraq village in Abyan, 19-year-old Donia Adel is eight months pregnant with her second child. She already has a two-year-old daughter.

As a girl, she loved school and dreamed of becoming a teacher. But at eight years old, her mother and stepfather could no longer afford to keep her there.

“I used to watch other children grow up in stable families while I struggled to adapt to a new and unsettled reality,” she recalled. “At times, I felt like a burden to those around me.”

Some 1.5 million girls in Yemen are out of school. Donia was married at 15. 

“I was still thinking like a child and dreaming like any young girl,” she said. “But, I felt that my options were extremely limited.”

When she found out she was pregnant, the feeling was mixed.

“I felt both happiness and fear at the same time. How could I be a mother to a child while I was still a child myself, needing so much care and love?”

Choosing between food and medicine

This pregnancy has been hard, Donia said. Without enough nutritious food, she is weak and exhausted, but makes sure her daughter eats first.

“Sometimes I go to bed hungry, thinking about what I will feed her the next day,” she said.

She has managed a handful of visits to a midwife and doctor, but the cost and distance mean she only goes when she can no longer bear it.

“I was relieved when I reached the health centre, because there was someone asking about my health and my baby,” she said. “At the same time, I felt sad when I heard about the food and medicines I needed, knowing I might not be able to provide them. Sometimes I returned home carrying prescriptions more than actual solutions to my problem.”

A fragile lifeline

Both women have found some support through UNFPA-backed safe spaces. Fatimah received counselling and a medical referral and is now attending literacy classes run by the Yemen Women’s Union.

Donia is doing the same, determined to finish the education that was taken from her.

“If things were different, I would continue my studies, pursue my dream of becoming a teacher, and provide a better life for my children and family,” she said.

* Names have been changed to protect the women’s identities.