In many communities, a pressing issue often overlooked by many casts a long shadow on the lives of countless families: maternal incarceration. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, 58% of women in U.S. prisons—roughly 57,700 individuals—are mothers to children under the age of 18. A majority of these women are the designated primary caretakers of their children and are mostly imprisoned for crimes caused by economic necessity or substance abuse disorders. Every year, thousands of children suffer as their primary support systems are unjustly locked away. Mothers in prison extends beyond a legal issue and crosses into a human rights concern for its victims.
Like many elements of our justice system, maternal incarceration imposes serious harm on all affected parties and lends itself to intergenerational impacts on families. Children of incarcerated mothers have been shown to experience higher rates of mental and physical health conditions, with The Center for Health and Justice Research identifying that they are 1.6x more likely to experience depression than other children and are less likely to have consistent medical care like check-ups and dentist appointments. Children experiencing maternal incarceration have also been shown to have depression and anxiety disorders into adulthood. Educational delays have been associated with maternal incarceration, identifying that sons of imprisoned mothers are 25% more likely to drop out of school. Research also suggests that children of incarcerated mothers are more at risk of engaging in behaviors that introduce them to the criminal justice system.
Pregnant women in prison also face a myriad of unique problems, like low standards of medical care, a lack of postpartum support, and, in some cases, higher rates of miscarriages, premature birth, and c-sections. Plus, many prisons lack the necessary policies to account for breastfeeding and lactation. Shackling is an additional ethical issue that incarcerated pregnant women face across many jurisdictions. Although the legislation varies, restricting women with handcuffs, waist chains, and ankle cuffs while being transported for access to OB care—and during labor and childbirth—is standard practice in many prisons. The protocol was a precedent extended from men’s prisons and has not been shown to be the result of security or safety concerns. Significantly, during labor, shacking interferes with a pregnant woman’s ability to assume necessary positions and prevents easy transport to an operating room.
Overall, maternal incarceration is a threat to the mental and physical health of all affected parties, most specifically the children. If imprisonment has been deemed the “only option” for pregnant women or women with children, policies must be put in place that protect the rights of the mother and the child. Policies could include ensuring consistent visitation rights for mothers and children, access to support resources, better health care standards, and abolishing the shackling of pregnant women.
Note from The Prison Policy Initiative:
“Throughout these publications, the terms “pregnant women” and “mother” described those people who were pregnant in custody during the study period. While we’ve deferred to the terminology used by the authors, we acknowledge that pregnancy can overlap with multiple gender identities, and our conclusions and recommendations apply to all pregnant people.”
References
Center for Health and Justice Research. (2023, May 15). Effects of Materncal
Incarceration on Child Health. Public Policy Institute.
https://policyinstitute.iu.edu/news-media/stories/maternal-incarceration-
brief.html
Clarke, J. G., & Simon, R. E. (2013). Shackling and separation: motherhood in prison.
The Virtual Mentor, 15(9), 779–785.
Sawyer, W., & Bertram, W. (2022, May 4). Prisons and jails will separate millions of
mothers from their children in 2022. Prison Policy Initiative.
Wang, L. (2021, August 19). Unsupportive environments and limited policies:
Pregnancy, postpartum, and birth during incarceration. Prison Policy
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