When Rehana Parveen, 23, landed a job three years ago in a garment factory at Phulbaria - an hour's drive from Dhaka - she had dreams of a husband and a home echoing with the laughter of children.
'I got married but becoming a mother is out of the question. The unwritten rule in garment factories is: don't get pregnant - if you do, you will get sacked,' Ms Parveen lamented.
She said that in the past year, 12 women workers at the clothing factory run by Biswas Group of Industries at Phulbaria have been fired for violating the management's policy.
Sabaira Begum was on the payroll of Jhimuk Garments Company, on the outskirts of Dhaka. But she was thrown out when she had a baby.
She had to wait for six long years before she got back the job which pays her 1,000 takas (HK$137) each month - considered a decent salary in impoverished Bangladesh.
'I have learned a lesson. I will never get pregnant again,' she said. 'And if I do, I will immediately have an abortion before I am booted out.'
