Abstract

With a prison population of approximately 9000 women in England, it is estimated that approximately 600 pregnancies and 100 births occur annually. Despite an extensive literature on the sociology of reproduction, pregnancy and childbirth among women prisoners is under‐researched. This article reports an ethnographic study in three English prisons undertaken in 2015‐2016, including interviews with 22 prisoners, six women released from prison and 10 staff members. Pregnant prisoners experience numerous additional difficulties in prison including the ambiguous status of a pregnant prisoner, physical aspects of pregnancy and the degradation of the handcuffed or chained prisoner during visits to the more public setting of hospital. This article draws on Erving Goffman's concepts of closed institutions, dramaturgy and mortification of self, Crewe et al.'s work on the gendered pains of imprisonment and Crawley's notion of ‘institutional thoughtlessness’, and proposes a new concept of institutional ignominy to understand the embodied situation of the pregnant prisoner.

Highlights

  • A central theme in the extensive sociology of pregnancy and childbirth concerns the experiences of child-bearing women (Oakley 2016); this literature has overlooked the experiences of women in prison

  • The following analysis draws on the interviews with women and staff combined with observations of the prison setting to consider whether pregnancy grants women prisoners a special status, aspects of the physical pregnancy and the degradation of the pregnant prisoner

  • The following discussion expands upon the themes of: special status; the physical pregnancy and degradation; pregnancy as an existential crisis; and the key overarching concept of institutional ignominy

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Summary

Introduction

A central theme in the extensive sociology of pregnancy and childbirth concerns the experiences of child-bearing women (Oakley 2016); this literature has overlooked the experiences of women in prison. The circumstances of pregnant prisoners contrast starkly with best midwifery practice where current practice regarding empowerment, continuity of care, partnership models, support of physiological birth and choice of birth location should be guiding principles (McCourt et al 2006, Sandall et al 2013). Guidance on the management of women prisoners indicates that pregnant women should receive suitable nutrition and rest, handcuffs should not to be used after arrival at hospital and they should not travel in cellular vans (National Offender Management Services 2014). The guidance directs the prison service to make adequate provisions for women wishing to breastfeed their babies and suggests that careful planning should take place when women are being separated from their babies due to the risk to their mental health

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