What It's Like To Be Pregnant In Prison

After being sentenced to prison, all women are required to undergo a general medical exam. The exam not only confirms that an inmate is pregnant, but also uncovers potentially unknown pregnancies.

Pregnant female prisoners are not separated from the rest of the prison population unless they are drug addicts and require special medical treatment to prevent harm to their unborn babies. They may be given some special dispensation, such as a bottom bunk or an extra pillow. They remain in prison except for specially approved visits to an obstetrician outside of the correctional facility grounds.

A lack of proper training and equipment in many prisons means that pregnant women are often at risk of giving birth without sufficient medical care. Some even give birth in their cells, which puts both mother and child at risk for infection and other health problems.

Numerous cell births have occurred in the United States. A woman gave birth while in solitary confinement at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, CA. Another woman at the El Paso County Jail in Colorado Springs, CO, said she gave birth in her cell toilet without any assistance from staff, which led to her infant developing an E. coli infection. And a female inmate at the Denver County Jail said staff ignored her pleas for help when she went into labor.

Other incidents in Texas and Michigan show that the problem is not isolated to any one area.

Women who go into labor while incarcerated have little privacy. Prison protocol often requires guards to constantly watch inmates, even as they are about to give birth. 

At the same time, the pregnant woman can feel very alone because the guards are there merely for security reasons, not to provide emotional support during the birth. Some prisons allow doulas to coach pregnant prisoners through their delivery.

Across the United States, it's common practice for prisoners to be shackled when they leave their correctional facility, with legs, arms, and waist chained together. Most prisons don't make exceptions for women being transported to a hospital to give birth; only a few states have laws that explicitly ban the practice.

Women who give birth while shackled or handcuffed to a bed experience pain and humiliation, and can't properly hold their newborn babies.

Doctors recommend that pregnant women maintain a balanced diet of whole grains, fresh fruit, vegetables, dairy products, and complex proteins. The meals available at most prison facilities, however, fall short of providing this kind of nutrition.

Pregnant women in prison might receive more milk or additional snacks, but these extras don't make up for an inadequate prenatal diet. Combined with the changes in taste that many expectant mothers experience, prison diets leave many women hungry and malnourished.

Child welfare officers decide where to place an infant if the mother is unable to care for her baby. In many cases, they will attempt to place the infant with a family member, which means the mother can continue to have a relationship with the child, especially when she leaves prison.

But some mothers who give birth while incarcerated might lose all contact with their child. If authorities don’t believe family members are capable of caring for the infant, they can place the newborn in foster care. According to federal laws, parents can lose the rights to their children if they are in foster care for 15 months over a 22-month period. Some mothers are pressured into not fighting adoption cases. Former prisoner Sierra Watts told The Guardian:

He was going to stay in the hospital with nobody holding him, nobody knows where he’s going, nobody’s even going to tell me where he’s going. They told me that if I was to take it to trial and lose, then I wouldn’t be able to get photos or hear how he’s doing or send him cards or anything.