giving birth amid thorny bushes surrounded by bricks fresh out of the kiln or in between heaps of rice bags at a mill may seem incredulous for many but it is a reality for a section of women who work for every meal illegally bound by a contract of enslavementtamil nadus enviable record of institutionalised childbirth does not cover these women bonded workers living on the periphery for them safe childbirth antenatal care or healthy babies are unheard of at least 60 of 100 former women bonded workers who participated in a sample survey said they had given birth without any medical care at their worksites or huts made of old clothes palm leaves and tarpaulin sheets near their worksitethe primary survey was carried out by students of madras school of social work during their internship with international justice mission an ngo working with bonded labourers toi prepared a specific questionnaire about maternal health for the surveythe survey findings point at only a fraction of such cases of unsafeunassisted deliveries official records in the state show around 10000 married women among the 65000 labourers who have been rescued till 2018the mssw survey data brings to light the appalling condition of women labourers in tamil nadu who are not just caught in a poverty trap for generations but also deprived of the most basic medical attentionin the case of chithra the primary health centre was nearby but she was not allowed to seek medical care when she miscarried in her third month i was lifting sugarcane bundles to be loaded on to vehicles when i had my miscarriage the owner did not allow me to go to the hospital instead he brought me a tonic and some medicine to get over weakness says chithraof the 269 babies born to the 100 women institutional delivery was accessed by only 40 of women and many of them were possible because they were rescued and rehabilitated while pregnant after being rescued thaiyamma was taken to hospital where doctors gave her an emergency blood transfusion for the first time in nine months i felt my baby move i had lost hope to live as i was weak and forced to work relentlessly thaiyamma recollects she gave birth to a boy on september 22 2016 a few days after her rescueas she had a difficult pregnancy thaiyamma had mustered courage and sneaked out of her treecutting unit to visit a doctor the doctor told me the baby is alive but advised me proper food and rest but it was not possible then she said she said it was a privilege for her son to be born in a hospital as not every bonded labourer gets access to institutionalised deliverygowri mother of six girls recalls how her motherinlaw assisted her during labour we were not allowed to go to a hospital as the owner did not want to disturb work women who worked with me also gave birth at huts and worksites its still the norm among