Pregnant felons in prision!

I work in a womens prison. We currently have 27 pregnant offenders. We also have a mother baby unit. Among other criteria, the moms have to be within 18 months of release at the time of delivery. They also must have never have had Child Protection Services called on them in the past and not be in for a violent offense. The babies are not taken away after a year. They are released with their mom.

The issue of using restraints (handcuffs/shackles) on pregnant and laboring inmates has been in the public eye recently due to various states passing legislation against it. There are inmate advocate groups lobbying to forbid their use after hearing stories of horrible situations - women being in leg irons when ready to deliver and the officer not removing them, so delivery occurred with them on, etc. While I truly do not believe this is the norm, I do believe there needs to be legislation/policy and procedures/etc. to mandate this. The American Correctional Health Services Association (ACHSA) has written a draft Position Paper on this topic, and it is now out to members for comment. It will be voted on at the next Board meeting in July. It basically supports the banning of the shackles/restraints in these circumstances, but also acknowledges that the security aspects (level, escape risk, risk of self -harm, etc) must be considered. It further recommends that female officers accompany a laboring inmate if at all possible. I am not sure if the draft is posted on the website (www.achsa.org), but if not, I will ask that they do so today. We would be happy to hear from anyone who wants to provide feedback!

That sounds like a well-thought out program. Wish it could always be like that. Of course others have a point about the expense. But I think we may pay either way, as Deyo suggested. Do we pay up front and try to give baby (and hopefully mom - yeah, I know I'm an idealist) a positive start; or do we pay later when this child (likely) also ends up in the system?

OOps just noticed this thread was a while ago.....duh

In response to the first reply to this thread.....gag.
They deserve nothing spiritual or lovely or whatever after poisoning their babies with drugs or ony thinking of themselves while they were out committing their crime.