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Pregnancy, criminal justice and social services
Prisoners pushing their babies at HMP Styal
The charity Birth Companions looks at the needs of women in 'dual contact' with the criminal justice and social care systems during pregnancy and early motherhood.

Spotlight

Last week (29 November 2023), the charity Birth Companions published its new Spotlight paper, looking at the needs and experiences of women in ‘dual contact’ with the criminal justice and children’s social care systems during pregnancy and early motherhood.

The paper outlines the context, highlight key evidence, shares recommendations for improving women’s experience of this ‘dual contact’ with the CJS and children’s social care, and presents powerful first-person contributions from people with lived experience of these issues, which are often heart-rending to read.

Birth Companions

Birth Companions is a women’s charity dedicated to tackling inequalities and disadvantage during pregnancy, birth and early motherhood. It was founded back in 1996 to support pregnant women and new mothers in Holloway Prison. Since then the charity has become the acknowledged experts in meeting the needs of women living in the most challenging situations in prison and in the community. In addition to lobbying to improve services for pregnant women and new mothers in contact with the justice system, Birth Companions provide a wide range of services including:

  • One-to-one practical and emotional support for women during pregnancy and throughout early motherhood.
  • Birth support for women who might otherwise give birth on their own.
  • A 24/7 “birthline” to mobilise specialist volunteers who offer practical and emotional support and advocacy during labour, birth and the immediate post-partum period.
  • Practical essential items.
  • Trauma-informed antenatal courses designed specifically to meet the needs of women in prison, and those experiencing disadvantage in the community.
  • Mother and baby groups where women can make friends, take part in activities and access support from staff, volunteers and peer supporters.
  • Support for women experiencing bereavement and loss through miscarriage, stillbirth and separation from their children.
  • Support for women accessing abortions.
  • A peer support programme.

The context

The report starts by setting out relevant facts and figures:

  • In 2022/3 194 women in prison declared that they were pregnant. This was the first time the Government had published the total figure, so there is no benchmark for comparisons.
  • During the same period, 44 women gave birth while being held in custody. One of these births happened in the prison or while in transit to hospital.
  • 78 women applied to a prison Mother and Baby Unit – 10 fewer than the previous year. 40 MBU applications were approved, and 15 refused.
  • Freedom of Information requests revealed that one in three pregnant women (34%) were being held on remand awaiting sentencing.
  • It is not known how many women enter prison separated from an infant in the community.
  • The number of babies and infants subject to care proceedings is growing and thousands of mothers have their baby removed from their care by the family courts: 5,410 infants under the age of one began being ‘looked after’ by the State in 2022.

Issues

The geographical spread of women’s prisons in England means that women are in custody an average of 60 miles from their home area, yet it is their home local authority that has responsibility for their children’s social care. This creates significant challenges in terms of open and regular communication with social care and other professionals, fair and detailed assessment in partnership with women, and maintaining contact with babies and older  children. Women and those working with them in prison often talk of being ‘out of sight, out of mind’ or ‘overlooked’ by social workers.

Many women lose their homes when they enter prison and are reliant on being re-housed  by their local authority upon release.

For women in prison, the 26-week timeframe for child protection proceedings is challenging for all concerned. This timeline was designed for working with families in the community, and it can be problematic to apply it in exactly the same way in prison, where getting  security clearance for visits, and travelling long distances from the home local authority, can limit contact. Mothers also don’t have the same level of access to information and support through the family justice process as they would in the community, or as much chance to participate fully in proceedings.

The stress and trauma associated with CJS contact often increases mistrust towards  professionals, particularly in statutory services. This interplays with women’s fears of separation from their baby as a result of criminalisation; fears that are even more  heightened among women who have themselves experienced the care system as children.

Recommendations

The report concludes with the number of recommendations for improving the experiences of women in this situation. The headline recommendation is that:

“The imprisonment of pregnant women and mothers of infants should be ended in all but the most exceptional of circumstances.”

Thanks to Andy Aitchison for kind permission to use the header image in this post. You can see Andy’s work here

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