source: The Guardian

published: 25 March 2023

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Women in prison have a seven-times higher probability of suffering a stillbirth than those in the general population – an increase from a five-times higher probability since the data was last collected two years ago – the Observer can reveal.

Figures obtained through freedom of information requests sent to 11 NHS trusts serving women’s prisons in England also showed that for the years 2020-22, 25% of babies born to women in prison were admitted to a neonatal unit afterwards – almost double the national figure of 14%.

Meanwhile, 12% of babies had a low birth weight, compared with 6.5% among the general public. Stillbirths were at a rate of 27.1 per 1,000 births compared with 4 per 1,000 for the wider population. This is up from a rate of 20.9 compared with 4.2 for the period 2015-2019. On average, there were 29 pregnant women in prison during 2021 and 2022 and 50 births to women spending time in custody over the same period, according to Ministry of Justice figures. Of these, 94% (47) took place in a hospital and three occurred either in transit to hospital or within a prison.

Birte Harlev-Lam, executive director at the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), said the “shocking” statistics should jolt the Prison Service and government into action.

“It is a national scandal that women are still giving birth in prison, and it’s a practice that needs to stop,” she said.

Last year, the RCM was among those to sign an open letter to the Sentencing Council calling for a review of sentencing practices for pregnant women." 

Harlev-Lam said the “potentially fatal impact” of a custodial sentence should be taken into consideration.

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