What Happens When You Give Birth in Prison? Can You Keep the Baby?

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Over the recent years, the United States has experienced a vast increase in inmate population, both male and female. In women correctional facilities, these occurrences are common. Some women are pregnant at the time they are charged, while others get pregnant while serving their sentences in various detention facilities. What happens to them is what many find difficult to believe. Their fate mostly depends on the officers on watch as they go through challenges that pregnant mothers shouldn’t go through.

Despite the federal government establishing rules that aim to protect pregnant inmates and their babies, the majority of correctional facilities do not put this into practice. Many of the women remain shackled and confined in the same poorly isolated cells, without maternal care or any exceptional attendance.

Let’s find out more about this matter and the fate that will await you if you ever find yourself in such a scenario.

Can you Have a Baby in Prison?

Despite individual efforts of both the inmates and the correctional officers to minimize or curb inmates’ pregnancies, they keep increasing. Inmates pregnancy is not a crime a prison can charge you with. By saying so, an inmate can become pregnant while serving their sentence in the detention center. Some of these inmates are already pregnant at the time they are sentenced and carry on with the jail life of having the pregnancy. Others get pregnant while serving their jail term.

Depending on the correctional facility the inmate is incarcerated in and the state where the jail is found, these pregnant inmates can get special maternal care, though it’s not perfect. Despite the federal government enacting federal laws that protect pregnant inmates, some other detention facilities still put them in harsh conditions, without any maternal care.

The Law Provisions on Pregnant and Nursing Inmates

In December 2018, the federal government established a federal law known as the First Step Act: a federal law that aims at addressing the welfare of pregnant inmates. The law restrains the correctional facilities from putting the pregnant inmates in most inflicting measures such as inmate shackling.

The law stipulates that restraints are not used on pregnant inmates at the time of their pregnancy, labor, and postpartum recovery period.

The prison authority should liaise with the healthcare professional in conducting a pregnancy test on the female inmates to ascertain the number of pregnant inmates. Upon confirmation of the pregnancy, the inmate should be freed from the restraints until after her postpartum recovery.

Exceptions to this Provision

The circumstances that may make a pregnant inmate excluded from enjoying this law provision are as follows:

If the correctional officer states that the inmate poses a serious threat to harm herself or others and that there are no other means to control her
If the correctional officer confirms that the inmate is an instant flight risk and that there are no other ways to prevent her
If the medical officer attending to the inmate states that the inmates shall only be medically safe if she’s kept in restraints

If the use of restraints will be inappropriate for the safety of the inmate and others, only minimal restraints will be applied to prevent the inmate’s escape.

However, the restraints should not be used in the following ways:

The restraints should not be put around the legs, waist, or ankle of the inmate
The restraint should not be a four-point restraint
The prisoner not be restrained with her hands at the back
The prisoner should not be attached to another prisoner.

A medical request by the health care professionals responsible for the inmate’s safety shall see the inmate cease from being refrained.

Suppose a correctional officer uses restraints on the pregnant inmate despite being exempted from being restrained. In that case, the officer has up to 30 days to present a written report to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons and the healthcare professional explaining why restraints are still used on the inmate.

The report should include:

An explanation of why they persist in using the restraints
The type of restraint used and the period the restraints were used
The physical effects the restraint caused to the inmate.

The health care professional will determine if the use of restraint is appropriate or not and will present a written report to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons.

Violation of the Act

This Act is to be followed to the latter by each correctional officer, the inmate, and the healthcare professional. In the event a correctional officer violates a clause or e section of this Act, the Director of the Bureau of Prisons and the Director of the United States Marshals Service shall find a way the prisoner can report the violating officer.

The law also provides for the correctional officer and the healthcare professional to be trained on the appropriate use of restraints on pregnant inmates at the time of labor and their postpartum recovery period.

The training should focus on:

How to diagnose a pregnancy that requires immediate medical attention
The circumstances under which the use of restraints should be avoided
How to effectively restrain an exempted inmate without harming them
The report is to be directed to the Director of the Bureau of Prisons.
The information in the report should include the conditions under which the healthcare professional should request a restraint.

The Fate of Women with Babies in Prisons

Despite the federal law provisions, the majority of women behind bars with babies and those pregnant still rely on the mercy of the correctional officers. The law has failed to protect the incarcerated women in county and state jails. Female inmates in county and state jail account for at least 85% of the total female population in prisons in the U.S. Failure of the federal law to protect the 85% of the women in these jails has left many in pain, and the problem unsolved.

Female inmates in federal prison might enjoy the law provision. However, the majority of them do not know their rights as provided by the stipulated law. They aren’t aware of when or how to report the correctional officers who violate the law.

The process of reporting the violation of the Act is long and complex. It also involves a lot of legal entities that the inmate might find difficult to achieve. This is the reason why the pregnant inmates remain in silence despite the mistreatments from their correctional officers.

Can a Female Inmate Keep her Baby While in Prison?

Prisons vary in terms of facilities, rules, and conditions, depending on their state. What a prison in America offers to women with babies is not the same as a prison in India.

Prisons with mother and baby units are suitable for inmates with babies. If an inmate in this kind of prison gives birth, she can stay with her baby in the mother and baby unit for the first 18 months. Offenders with babies under 18 months can apply to come along with their child to the prison.

Inmates with children aged 18 months and above can apply for social services to be taken care of by either their parents or fosters.

The female inmates are not guaranteed a slot in the mother and child unit even if they are available. Therefore, the prisoner must apply for the same.

To do so, follow the guideline below:

If you know you have a baby 18 months or less or if you’re expecting to give birth before you finish your jail term, you’re supposed to apply for a slot in the mother and child unit at the time of your admission.
After applying for a slot in the mother and child unit, the prison’s authorities will determine if staying at the unit will be the best option for the child.
If the mother and child unit the inmate applies to has no space left, the board will find an available unit with enough space left.
It can also happen that all units are full. In such cases, the prison authority will find a way the child will be taken care of, but outside the prison.
If the inmate is not content with the decision the prison arrives at, they can appeal, and the prison will explain how and why the decision stands.
The inmate is separated from their child if they agree to keep the child out of prison. Also, a separation plan is arranged when the child attains 18 months if the inmate has not finished her jail term.

Challenges Facing Pregnant and Nursing Inmates in Prisons

Pregnant and nursing mothers face many challenges that put them and their lactating children in great danger.

Below are some of the common challenges these women face behind bars:

Lack of mother and child units: Prisons offering mother and child units are limited. The spaces in the mother and child units in these prisons are also limited. The inmates that miss out on the spot at the mother and child unit end up losing contact with their babies as the prisons most of the time separate the baby from the mother. The prisons arrange for the babies to be taken care of elsewhere, out of prison, which is not an excellent alternative to many.
Lack of midwifery care at the time of giving birth: Most prisons lack medical care practitioners to attend to pregnant inmates at the time of giving birth. Most of them give birth in their isolated cells, which poses a significant risk to them and their newborn children. The inmate or the child can die, or both of them if not attended to.
Inhuman correctional officers: Some correctional officers lack a sense of humanity. They treat pregnant inmates brutally, without any concerns about their pregnancy and the danger of their treatment.
Poor conditions in the cells: Most cells are poorly kept and unhealthy to live in, not even to an ordinary prisoner. The unfriendly surroundings present a nasty experience to the pregnant inmates. Due to such, the inmate may end up giving birth before the pregnancy fully matures.
Shackling restraints: Pregnant inmates, especially at the time of giving birth, need a body balance. Shackling these inmates makes it hard for them to give birth in a normal environment. Especially when the inmate is shackled with her hands behind. The federal law has tried to address this issue, but it has not been compelling enough.

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