The purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction between rising levels of food insecurity in the urban setting and the existing gender structures and their impact on eating practices while pregnant. Using a focused-ethnography with a feminist approach in an urban slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh, we interviewed pregnant women and new mothers as well as older women, traditional midwives, delivery center staff and husbands. Knowledge around food practices while pregnant was largely in

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... nt with the western biomedical understanding of healthy pregnancy nutrition. However, women were largely unable to operationalize this knowledge due to poverty. Gender norms in the slum setting appear to be being challenged with respects to mobility and decision-making. However, limited access to sufficient quality and quantities of food overrode women's seemingly increased level of "freedom" in the slum. A more humanistic approach to maternal nutrition programs is proposed.