Being a Woman and a Mother in English Prisons

Abstract

A sizeable proportion of women prisoners (66%) in England and Wales is a single parent to a child under 16 and a recent estimate places the yearly number of children separated from their mothers due to the latter’s imprisonment to 17,500. Pregnancy and motherhood are key milestones in a woman’s life that impact both the mother and her offspring as early as from the time the baby is in the womb. This is a recognition that does not seem to persuasively extend to female prisoners who are pregnant or mothers at the time of their sentencing to prison and during their imprisonment in England and Wales. This warrants attention not just from those responsible for female imprisonment but from other policy spheres, considering that the children of female prisoners are much more likely to not be in education, in training or employment compared to the children afflicted by paternal imprisonment. Against this background, this mini review offers a snapshot of the treatment of female prisoners who are pregnant and/or mothers and reflects on the implications of failing to protect pregnancy and motherhood in prison with reference to the female prisoner’s social reintegration prospects and her child’s potential in life.