Documentary Analysis: Babies In Prison

A nursery in prison allows a mother to raise and keep her child with her up to eighteen months. Many people may question if it’s the safest thing for a child to spend his or her’s first year of life behind bars. In Schiavocampo’s article entitled Moms Behind Bars she interviews several inmates asking their opinions on the program. She notes that about two thirds of women prisoners are mothers. Therefore there is a huge need for this program around the United States. One of the inmates she talks to says, “Babies belong with their mothers, whether it’s in prison or not.” While another inmate she talks to states, “Who wants to have a baby in prison and not be able to stay with the baby?" she asks. "I'm grateful I kept her. She's the laughingest, smilingest, giggling-about-nothing baby. The fact that she's here keeps me out of trouble.” Keeping their children with them is having nothing but a positive affect on these women. It’s giving them a reason to behave and serve their sentence as quickly as possible. Several studies in this article have shown that women who have been part of the nursery program are less likely to return back to prison. The author demonstrates how keeping children with their mothers saves the child and the mother at the same

women has increased significantly, increasing at a rate double to the rate of male incarceration since 1980 (Covington & Bloom, 2006). Braithwaite, Treadwell and Arriola note that incarcerated women have historically been a forgotten population, and despite the rapid growth of the population, their needs have continued to be ignored (2005). In addition to the stigma that comes with being or having been incarcerated,

Approximately 80% of incarcerated women are mothers (Mapson, 2013). On average, the adult female offender is between the ages of 25 and 29. Historically, incarcerated women live with their children prior to incarceration and are the sole financial support for those children. When a mother is incarcerated over 80% live with relatives (mostly maternal grandparents) and about 20% live in foster care. Due to mothers being placed far from populated centers, more than half of mothers will not see their children while they are imprisoned. Women rarely see their children due to the child being in foster care or with family members that do not have the financial resources to travel for visits.

Mother Behind Bars examines a lot of inadequate policies and procedures that these states have in place for federal and state correctional facilities. This report card bring up the issue on prenatal care, shackling, prison nurseries, and family based treatment as an alternative to incarceration however in this paper I will focus on the restraints on these pregnant inmates. New Jersey received a grade of D for shackling policies. Besides New Jersey thirty-seven other states obtain a D/F for their failure to comprehensively limit, or limit at all, the use of restraints on pregnant women transportation, labor, delivery, and postpartum recuperation (National Women’s Law Center, 2010). The use of restraints can compromise the health and safety of the women and the unborn child. Shackling pregnant women is dangerous and inhumane; women prisoners are still routinely shackled during pregnancy and childbirth. The reason these women are shackled is for safety and security, despite the fact that shackling pregnant women is degrading, unnecessary and a violation of human rights some state still condone this practice.

In the past thirty years, the incarceration of women has risen exponentially. Poverty, lack of access to education, abuse, addiction, mental health and parenting issues all impact women’s criminality and health before, during and after they are incarcerated (Hannaher, K., 2007). By 2010 there were nearly 206,000 women currently serving time in the criminal justice system. As the years go by, the numbers are constantly increasing (Women Behind Bars, 2015). The number of pregnant women incarcerated has also been on the rise. Most incarcerated women do not receive proper prenatal care before entering the criminal justice system. Because these women are from mostly poverty neighborhoods, they are more likely to endure domestic violence, poor

We know much more about incarcerated mothers than we know about incarcerated fathers. For example, over 70% of female inmates are mothers of dependent children under the age of eighteen. Almost 90% of incarcerated females are single parents and heads of households. According to some estimates, a quarter of a million children are separated from their parents each year by jail and prison (Glick & Neto, 1977; McGowan & Blumenthal, 1978; McPeek & Tse, 1988; U.S. Department of Justice, 1992). We do not have this kind of information about incarcerated fathers. The lack of statistics concerning fathers in prison may suggest that they are a forgotten group.

Mothers are more than happy to be sent to a rehabilitation centre then prison as this would be seen as a easy escape from prison but also being able to still stay at home whilst attending rehabilitation centres, with community work offered to convicted offenders too it is proved that women finish community work more than males and are able to cope with the work as they see a means of not going to prison. Women are a target to pressure and over half of women within the criminal justice system have suffered from ‘domestic violence, compared with a quarter of men’ and with a quarter of having ‘experienced sexual abuse in comparison to just under a tenth of male prisoners’. (Corston, 2007). Mothers feel more pain of imprisonment then fathers/males this is because the role as a mother can be as primary carers. Worry

Benidalys Rivera is one of seven women to give birth while in the Western Massachusetts Regional Women’s Correctional Center in 2013. In 2013, Benidalys was convicted to serve two and a half years in Chicopee jail for trafficking cocaine. She started to have contractions in her cell, late in the evening. One of the male correctional officers immediately put shackles on her hands, and he left the shackles on her in the hospital labor room. He told Benidalys that he would take the off the shackles on her ankles when she reaches active labor. However, she never entered active labor and the shackles never were taken off. The doctors had to perform a caesarean section (Berg). Benidalys walked around the hospital “she felt embarrassed as nurses and other patients looked on” (Berg) while having only her assigned nurse for comfort. Benidalys took care of her infant for only two days before they had to separate. The infant, named E.J. taken with the biological father’s family, and Benidalys taken back to the institution. Growing up for two and a half years without visiting his mother because the father’s family lived far away from the prison (Berg). The Department of Corrections of each state needs to consider the well-being of incarcerated women and their children in order to prevent the poor upbringing of the children, to prevent repeat offenders, and to create laws protecting

In relation to the entire incarceration population, women are the most vulnerable, and even more vulnerable when pregnant. Since most of the pregnancies are unplanned during incarceration, the prenatal care is far from superior. This ties into the possible partner violence, substance abuse, and all the other issues the women enter into the prison with, which all compromise the health of the fetus. As earlier stated, these women are likely to be poor, less educated, history of violence in their lives, and tend to be in a non-white ethnic group. Separating a child from his or her mother can impact the child’s life dramatically and it is important to realize the affects incarceration has on the child and the family. It can lead to worsening of all the mental health and social issues already present in the family. It is also crucial to understand that most incarcerated women are in there for nonviolent crimes.

Even though nearly 100 countries have national laws allowing for incarcerated mothers to stay with their babies, there is still an ongoing debate in the United States regarding policies and laws on how to deal with this

Who is incarcerated and how many of those incarcerated are mothers? According to recent estimates (Mumola, 2000),

While most expectant mothers are planning for baby showers, shopping for maternity clothes and preparing the baby’s nursery, the incarcerated mother-to-be has to remain in a constant state of alertness and preparedness for situations that can put her and her unborn baby at risk, in an environment that is both intimidating and routinely violent. (Hutchinson et. al., 2008)

For many years it has been frowned upon to see women in prison. The rate of women in prison is currently higher than it has been in the past. Many of these women that are being incarcerated are leaving behind their families. This could be unfortunate for both the mother and child. For some women, they are still with the child while entering prison. In prisons and jails in the United States 10% of the women population that are incarcerated are pregnant (Hotelling, B. A., Perinatal needs of pregnant, incarcerated women, 2008). Those women who are pregnant may not receive adequate care for themselves or their growing child.

Women entering prison during the first trimester verses the third trimester have different outcome in terms infant birth weight. Women who become incarcerated during their first trimester are likely to have infants born of normal birth weight. This is because prison systems are required to provide healthcare, which would include prenatal care, and three meals a day (Howard, Strobino, Sherman, & Crum, 2011). This

Furthermore, female inmates are another challenge for correctional administrators. For example, an important and alarming issue such as overwhelming pregnancy and abortion related health care factors can become expensive. These inmates need special clear, intensive monitoring and observation. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, “200,000 women are living behind prison or jail walls and thousands of these women are pregnant and dependent on the correctional administrators for health care.” (para. 1). Even though correctional administrators are legally obligated to meet their needs, there are guidelines that they must follow. These guidelines are put in place to further assist correctional administrators so that they are not violating the rights and well-being of female inmates who are already pregnant or considering on having a child while incarcerated.