A happily married couple are struggling to keep their relationship alive as Bermuda's housing crisis threatens to tear them and their family apart.

Speaking to yesterday, 25-year old pregnant mother of three Dawn Hamilton offered a further revealing insight into the trials and tribulations of many low-income families on the Island, who cannot find anywhere viable to live in a housing market stretched to breaking point.

Pregnant at 16, Mrs. Hamilton has an eight-year old daughter from her first long-term relationship and is currently married to Jamaican construction worker Nicholas, who fathered her 2-year old twin girls ? with another on the way.

Until March last year, life as they knew it was adequate, nothing more.

With the eight-year old already sent away to live in Jamaica with her husband's family, the rest of them shared a house with other family members on North Shore in Devonshire.

But when her husband's cousin began abusing his girlfriend, necessitating regular visits from Police, the landlord had seen enough and asked them to leave.

In desperation, the family split up: Mrs. Hamilton going to Teen Haven women's shelter in Pembroke and the husband bunking up with his boss on a temporary basis.

Unable to afford the rent with his family in Bermuda, Mr. Hamilton took the drastic step in May last year of sending his wife and daughters to his homeland in an attempt to save money.

Upon their return in late August, they were eventually put up at Government's all-female emergency housing facility in Southside, St. David's, where a heavily pregnant Mrs. Robinson currently lives with her twins in a single room at the top of four-flights of stairs.

Mr. Hamilton still lives with his boss on Serpentine Road, although it is far from certain that he will be allowed to remain there for very much longer.

With no elevator, Mrs. Hamilton is forced to carry her two girls up the steps at least twice a day, along with her groceries and whatever else she may be carrying. The cramped room they have been allocated does not boast an en suite bathroom or a kitchen and they must instead use the building's communal facilities which are often unavailable.

A number of strict rules apply at the centre, including no male visitors at any time ? a fact which precludes any visits from her husband.

Desperate to ensure her twins do not suffer from their father's prolonged absences, Mrs. Robinson takes the bus from Southside at least once or twice a week to visit him, although the stress of such a journey has led to complications in her pregnancy.

Just last week she was admitted to hospital for tests, while she is currently under firm instructions to stay in bed and not to exert herself. Alone, pregnant and distraught ? and with her husband under pressure from his boss to move out and find somewhere permanent to live ? Mrs. Robinson said she has reached the end of her tether.

"It's an incredible struggle," she conceded.

"I'm doing my best to raise my children in the best way I can but in these sorts of conditions it is very difficult. And now I'm supposed to be staying in my bed and resting I feel even more isolated. My husband and I are trying so hard to make our marriage work. But it is getting harder and harder every day and we are being pulled apart by the nature of our circumstances. We're looking all the time for somewhere permanent to live. But all the time we try we keep running in to dead ends. The places we look at are either asking for too much money or don't like children. We feel trapped ? and the stress is really upsetting my pregnancy."

Mrs. Hamilton's story comes just over two months after another mother, 22-year old Diane McQueen, spoke to about her similar predicament ? a predicament which generated considerable community debate and polarised opinion.

With many sympathetic to her plight, others suggested Ms McQueen only had herself to blame for having more children ? five ? than her financial position allowed.

While some argued that society has a duty to protect and support vulnerable low-income families such as Ms McQueen's and Mrs. Robinson's, yet more have suggested that society is being blackmailed into bailing these people out of trouble when it is almost entirely their fault.

But Mrs. Robinson herself is unrepentant, stressing that she is not asking Government to pay for or look after her children, but to ensure that all Bermudian families ? no matter what their size ? can be appropriately housed.

"Sometimes I wish I could go back and change things," she said.

"But I have what I have now and I can't get rid of it. This coming baby will definitely be my last one because I'm going to have my tubes tied after this. But to say that, just because I have a lot of children means I cannot find a house, is not fair. There are plenty of single people out there who are struggling to find apartments. I'm not asking for anybody to look after my children or pay my bills. My husband and I can do that. We just need somewhere reasonable to live and with things as they are that is just not possible. But I'm absolutely desperate. I'm struggling to keep my marriage together but it is getting harder and harder."