“I Need to Space to Help Me Take Care of Myself and My Child”: How Married Adolescent Girls in Northern Nigeria Learn and Practice Birth Spacing through Safe Space Clubs

Adolescent girls in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) with high levels of poverty face barriers to education, health, and life opportunities. In Northern Nigeria, patriarchal norms and gendered expectations heighten girls’ risk of early marriage and high-risk childbearing. Birth spacing, or extending the length of time between births, can be a socially acceptable strategy that girls use to maintain their health. The Centre for Girls Education (CGE)’s Married Adolescent Girls Safe Spaces (MAS) program in rural Northern Nigeria included lessons on birth spacing and visits to health facilities. We conducted a case study of the MAS program, drawing from three years of ethnographic field research, including participant observation, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. Combining scientific evidence and Islamic teachings in MAS safe spaces shaped girls’ understanding and appreciation of modern birth spacing methods, and their agency in negotiating usage. However, girls’ agency remained constrained by structural and normative barriers limiting their ability to practice birth spacing. The MAS program suggests that integrating scientific information and Islamic teachings on birth spacing in safe spaces can strengthen married adolescent girls’ knowledge and agency to use modern methods, while underscoring the need to address persistent structural and gender norms.

Authors: Rachel M. Schmitz, Israt Jahan Juie, Olufunke Fasawe, and Alisha Graves