However, the intimate partner violence could be worse and one woman, whose husband already had one wife, said: “He just beats me … ever since this woman (the first wife returned after husband’s second marriage) came, he can’t stand the sight of me” (22 years, 4-para). Even if there was no intimate partner violence, several women reported problematic relationship and sometimes violence in the family and that they were scared of other family members. For one woman, the violence from in-laws during the pregnancy was so bad

that it was reported to the police. This mother said: “I am scared of them (the parents-in-law), they look at me threateningly, and they FGFR inhibitor want to pick issues. When they come home, I stay in my room and don’t go out” (20 years, Forskolin price 2-para). The mothers also reported conflicts about inheritance in the families. In one family, the mother said that there was quarrelling and fights between her and her brother-in-law after her father-in-law’s death because she thought her “brother-in-law

will swindle her husband … because he is not too sharp” (24 years, 3-para). Another mother left her husband before the birth of her daughter, due to violence from both her husband and in-laws during her pregnancy because they wanted more money as a dowry. Limits of survival Poverty All the women reported that their families were poor and had a difficult economic situation, except for two women who said they “had enough to eat, but not to sell” (45 years, 5-para) and “not too much and not too little” (36 MTMR9 years, 7-para). These families had their own land for cultivation. Mostly, the women’s husbands did farming on others’ lands and several families did not have any steady income due to the husbands’ unemployment, irregular employment, or poor health, which made the husbands unable to work full time.

The mothers spoke a lot about financial worries and that the families “suffer hardships” and “live hand to mouth” (29 years, 6-para). The majority of the women expressed that they did not have enough to eat. With a single income, which most of the families lived on, the mothers had difficulties in properly feeding all: “It is difficult to depend on one person only in such a big family” (36 years, 7-para). Another mother said, “I have a big sorrow in my heart … I cannot look after my baby the way I would like to. I can’t feed him properly. I have such pain in my heart for this” (20 years, 2-para). Insecurity Pregnancy and childbirth were very insecure periods for these poor women and were associated with risk for the woman’s life. Several mothers said that they had fear of dying during the delivery, and expressed fear for what would happen with the children if they died: “Who will look after them, love them if my husband marries again?” (36 years, 7-para). The women expressed fear that complications during the pregnancy may force them to go to the hospital for the delivery and put a strain on their economic situation.