1.   Also patron of barren women and heirs.

2.   It can make a barren woman fertile.

3.   The relic there was credited with making barren women pregnant and then relieving the pain of parturition.

4.   There a barren woman is a potential witch and punished with low status and harsh treatment.

5.   Because, in the words of one character, a barren woman is no better than a dead woman, this is cause for more than personal sorrow.

6.   Barren women often pray at the tomb because Rachel is believed to have been childless for many years.