Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

How many more babies must die before England stops jailing pregnant women?

How many more babies must die before England stops jailing pregnant women?

There is always an alternative to a custodial sentence. No court decision should endanger the life of an unborn child
In the past three years, two babies born inside English prisons have died. In September 2019, a woman, now known as Ms A, gave birth alone in her cell at HMP Bronzefield and the baby died. In July 2020, a baby was stillborn at HMP Styal. Prison will never be a safe place for pregnant women, so why are our courts still sending them there?

Geraldine Brown, Maria Garcia de Frutos and I set about trying to answer that question. Our research into pregnancy in English prisons (there are no women’s prisons in Wales), published this week, has convinced me that imprisoning pregnant women is disproportionate, cruel and simply unnecessary.

Most of the 22 women who responded to our survey were in prison because they had been recalled by the probation service, which means that at the end of a prison term they were placed under probation supervision for one year, but then breached their probation conditions so were sent back inside. Some of these “breaches” included a missed probation appointment, changing address and shoplifting (in this case, committed by a woman who was 30 weeks pregnant and was homeless, living in a car park – she was returned to prison for 11 weeks).

Two women were in prison on remand, awaiting their trial. The most common offence was shoplifting. Four were there for drug offences. Other offences included fraud, perjury, robbery and affray. Five of the women were sent to prison at a very late stage of pregnancy: three at 36 weeks, one at 35 weeks and one at 30 weeks.

Sending pregnant women to prison is unnecessary. Multiple countries, including Russia, Brazil, Mexico and Colombia already have laws to prevent pregnant women going to prison. It is time for the UK to follow their example.

English courts can and should use alternatives to imprisonment for pregnant women. If they were given community orders instead, the probation service would help them to access support, training, education and counselling at women’s centres, which offer support in a non-punitive setting. This kind of support is proven to be effective in helping women turn around lives that were previously chaotic.

Non-punitive residential options, along the lines of therapeutic communities such as the Jasmine Mother’s Recovery in Plymouth and Phoenix Futures in Sheffield, should be created and sustained across England. I spent two days at Jasmine with the mothers and staff, and saw the nursery full of babies. The work they do is life-saving. It is accepting, non-judgmental and trauma-informed. This is what pregnant women in the criminal justice system need. In this all-female setting, women find protection from domestic violence, they care for themselves and for each other, for their unborn child, and for the baby once born. They receive highly skilled peer-mentoring and group counselling, which has proven to be effective in treating addiction.

Out of court disposals are another alternative that police forces can use. They divert women from the criminal justice system, and, with the help of women’s centres, help them deal with difficult issues with their lives and avoid conflict with the law.

The law must change. Whenever a pregnant woman is in court, a protocol should be activated to alert the court to issues concerning the need to protect pregnant women, mothers and their children. There must be absolutely no committal to custody on remand (which means they are held until they appear in court), or sentencing of a pregnant woman without a full assessment of dependent children or pregnancies by way of a bail information report or a pre-sentence report.

Level Up, Birth Companions and Women in Prison are campaigning to change sentencing laws so that no pregnant woman will be sent to prison, and have launched a petition calling for Dominic Raab, the justice minister, to change sentencing laws.

The starting point must be that no pregnant woman should be in custody. If custody is decided upon, the reasons must be stated and justified in open court. The mother whose baby died in Bronzefield prison was there on remand. This vulnerable young woman – 18 years old, eight months pregnant and unwell – was remanded in custody awaiting trial, and it was her first time in prison. After her baby had died, she was granted bail. Why was remand in custody ordered in the first place? No court decision should endanger the life of an unborn baby.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
China Presses Netherlands to “properly” Resolve the Nexperia Seizure as Supply Chain Risks Grow
Merz Attacks Migrants, Sparks Uproar, and Refuses to Apologize: “Ask Your Daughters”
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
×