Maternity Care For Women During Prison

These women need regular medical surveillance even for the minor things. According to Cynthia Chandler and Carol Kingery, “The dramatic increase in imprisonment in the United States has been accompanied by epidemic rates of HIV among prisoners. Moreover, women currently incarcerated in the U.S. suffer disproportionately higher rates of HIV infection than do free people and male prisoners.” These women need counseling and therapy especially if they have cancer, HIV/ AIDS, or mental illnesses. This neglect can be extremely fetal. Many women have already died because of this; we do not want the numbers to increase. Proper treatment is necessary.

In the past thirty years the number of incarcerated women in the United States increased by 646%, it is estimated that 6-10% of these women were pregnant at intake. “An Examination of Care Practices of Pregnant Women Incarcerated in Jail Facilities in the United States,” is a study that examined the pregnancy related accommodation and health care provided for regional jail populations. Prior to this study no other study examined regional jail populations, they strictly focused on prison populations. This study is a quantitative survey of common practices and policies implemented across 53 jail facilities in the United States as a function of geographic region. This survey was administered through phone or email to employees

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.

Restraining pregnant prisoners at any time increases their potential for physical harm from an accidental trip or fall. This also poses a risk of serious harm to the woman’s fetus, including the potential for miscarriage. During labor, delivery and postpartum recovery, shackling can interfere with appropriate medical care and be

Punctuated by centuries of discrimination, oppression, and the outright mishandling of justice, the rights of women in prisons has been historically mauled by an unprecedented legal negligence. Without the equality and prioritization that was granted to their male counterparts, it took decades of malpractice before women had any form of safety or security in prisons at all.

An important issue that has to be dealt with is sentencing women that are pregnant or just gave birth. One reason for this is acknowledging the high potential health risk a pregnant female can face in a correctional facility. For example, a woman that is pregnant has to professional pregnancy treatment. This means if the correction

Male prisoners also continue to make up the majority of the prison population. However, women prisoner rates have been on the rise and have exceeded that of male growth rates since 1995. In fact, due to the increase of the women prison population, various issues have arisen which require women to be treated differently from men. Such issues correctional facility’s face because of this increase include program delivery, housing conditions, medical care, staffing, and security (American Corrections, 2016). These problems are in part due to the different social and economic differences women are faced with in prison and while preparing for their release back to society.

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

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.

Hence, the rise of women in the US correctional systems, addressing the issue of pregnancy and child birth among incarcerated women is paramount to promote safety and health of women and newborns (Sutherland ,2013). That is why this Mothering Unit includes its own special medical health center, nursery, play ground, and cells big enough for the mother and

The impact of a mother’s arrest is more disruptive on the family. According to the California Research Bureau “two thirds of incarcerated mothers were the primary caregivers for at least one child before they were arrested” (Simmons, 2000, p. 6) With significant impact on the family unit it is difficult not to mention the effect of mothers being incarcerated is creating more psychological problems among children. Parental arrest creates shame, fear, guilt, trauma, and anxiety, which in turn adds to the decline of behavior manifestations in children. When children withdraw, or have low self-esteem their school performance declines, truancy increase, and the alcohol and drug usage leads to aggressive actions which creates cycle of incarcerations. More than half of those incarcerated receive visits from their children. I believe that if these women are in detention for behaviors that do not impair others then we should have one facility per state that incorporates a campus like environment for prolonged sojourns for children.

Private prisons face fierce criticism on how they deal with inmate’s health care. According to a nurse within one of these facilities, “private

Approximately 40% of criminal convictions in the year 2000 related to incarceration of women were on the basis of illegal drugs relation and 34% were for other non-violent crimes such as burglary, larceny, and fraud. 18% of women in prison have been convicted because of violent conduct, and 7% for public order offenses such as drunk driving, liquor law violations and vagrancy.

Juvenile delinquency is the habitual committing of criminal acts or offenses by a young person, especially one below the age at which ordinary criminal prosecution is possible. Up until recently juvenile delinquency only accounted for males. However, girls are now the fastest growing segment of the juvenile justice system, even though the rates of juvenile offending are declining. Due to the increase of the female juvenile population, some female juveniles are being held in adult prisons. Because the rates of female offending has been on the rise, there has been an increase in the likelihood that a teen would be arrested while she is pregnant. There are approximately 24,000 pregnant teens arrested a year, which is 670 on a given day. The chances of a girl being arrested while she is pregnant is somewhat high due to the fact that about 85% of girls that are detained are sexually active and fewer than 50% of them use some form of protection. Because the amount of female juveniles being detained are increasing and the juvenile justice system was geared more towards the male population, there are several resources that are lacking especially for pregnant teens and teen mothers.