In Humla, more than 20 percent of girls under the age of 19 are becoming mothers. The number of adolescent girls giving birth at a young age has increased due to early marriage.
According to data from the Health Service Office, 25 percent of girls gave birth below the age of 19 across the district from Shrawan to the end of Chaitra in fiscal year 2082. During this period, out of a total of 594 deliveries recorded across all seven rural municipalities in the district, 150 were girls under 19, said Durga Shrestha, Statistical Assistant at the Health Service Office, Humla.
In the previous fiscal year 2024/25, the number of adolescent mothers in this age group was 137, while it was 107 in the year before that.
The highest number of girls giving birth before the age of 20 was recorded in Simkot Rural Municipality, with 40 cases. According to Shrestha, rather than declining, the trend of early marriage has been increasing in recent times. Illiteracy, poverty, and various other challenges are cited as the main reasons behind early marriage and adolescent childbirth, contributing to the rising number of such cases.