Particularly those women who had many children expressed that they were very weak already before the delivery and that they experienced many difficulties during labour due to their poor health. The women were always afraid and worried about unpredictable events, such as illness in the family and needing doctors and medicine, because they did not have any money saved for

unpredictable events. The women whose husbands had more than one wife felt insecure in their marriages, as well as those mothers who did not have any sons. Another source of insecurity was that their husbands did not want birth control and one mother was afraid that she was already pregnant again. One kind of insecurity consists of earlier

negative life events, which still influenced the daily lives. Approximately one-third of the mothers had lost at least one child previously, many of them during AG-014699 research buy childbirth, and these mothers experienced pregnancy and labour as very stressful and frightening. Some women reported that their husbands Selleck RO4929097 had accidents (traffic- and work-related) several years ago, which still affected their lives through the husbands’ decreased ability to work full time, needing expensive medicine, and visits to the hospital and doctors. Those women who had lost their parents during childhood felt insecure as they did not have parents to look after them. The parental family seemed to be a secure base for the women, whom they could call upon or go to when things became problematic in their new families. Health The mothers with depressive symptoms reported poor physical

health after birth. They felt weak and had no physical strength which they explained through loss of blood during delivery or as lacking calcium and vitamins. They complained about multiple health problems, such as stomach pains, chest pains, headache, dizziness, low or high blood pressure, jaundice, urinary problems, gastric problems, a tumour in the throat, and having trouble walking after childbirth. The mothers reported that they had lost weight, others became thin, and lacked an appetite, and they related their health problems to worries for the children, for financial issues, and for not being able to give the children enough food or to raise and bring them up properly. About their own mental health, the mothers talked about worries and tension in their lives and that “things are running in their heads” and they “can’t stop worrying about everything” (30 years, 7-para). Some mothers said they had problems concentrating, they can’t remember anything, and they had problems working properly and felt mentally weak. One mother said: “I feel sad in my heart” (17 years, 1-para) and another said: “I have mental anxiety and depression. My husband has another wife, they show love for each other which makes me unhappy” (32 years, 3-para).