QuestionDo you know what happens if a woman is incarcerated and gives birth? What happens to the baby? This is a possibility in the state of California
AnswerCurrently, a laboring inmate in California is transported to the hospital in shackles, handcuffed to the bed during labor, and shackled by one leg to the bed for the remainder of a 48-hour stay. After that 48-hour stay, the baby is removed from the mother, often without saying goodbye, and the mother is returned to prison. If the father or another family member is unavailable to assume custody, the baby is placed into foster care.
A new program is scheduled to open in the spring of 2007 in a Chino prison in California which will allow babies to remain in prison with their mothers for up to 15 months. Although controversial, this program has been tested in other states and has been shown to improve rehabilitation of the mothers and solidify the family structures. Mothers and babies are moved into a separate unit, decorated in nursery style with cribs bolted into the cell walls. The inmates are given parenting classes, and parole into a mother-child after-care program.
