Shackling and pregnancy care policies in US prisons and jails

Abstract

y people to ensure healthy pregnancies. Yet, the right to give birth safely with dignity is not consistently protected for pregnant people behind bars (Hayes et al., 2020). Previous studies and lawsuits have documented the variable and inadequate care for pregnant people in custody (Peeler et ObjectivesNearly 4% of incarcerated women in the United States (US) are pregnant when incarcerated (Sufrin et al., 2019). Thus, carceral facilities are tasked with caring for pregnant

How are the Dietary Needs of Pregnant Incarcerated Women Being Met? A Scoping Review and Thematic Analysis

“…Of the sixteen included papers, six were from the United States of America (USA) (Ferszt & Clarke, 2012 ; Hackett, 2017 ; Kelsey et al, 2017 ; Kotlar et al, 2015 ; Kramer et al, 2023 ; Nair et al, 2021 ), four from the United Kingdom (UK) (Abbott, 2018 ; Abbott et al, 2023 ; Albertson et al, 2012 ; Bard et al, 2016 ), three from Iran (Alirezaei & Roudsari, 2020 , 2022a , 2022b ), two from Canada (Ifeonu et al, 2022 ; Kirubarajan et al, 2022 ), and one from Australia (Baldwin et al, 2020a ). Five of the included papers were literature reviews (Alirezaei & Roudsari, 2022a ; Baldwin et al, 2020a ; Bard et al, 2016 ; Kirubarajan et al, 2022 ; Nair et al, 2021 ), one a mixed methods study (Ferszt & Clarke, 2012 ), one a quantitative study (Kelsey et al, 2017 ), five qualitative studies (Abbott, 2018 ; Abbott et al, 2023 ; Alirezaei & Roudsari, 2022b ; Hackett, 2017 ; Ifeonu et al, 2022 ), two policy analyses (Alirezaei & Roudsari, 2020 ; Kramer et al, 2023 ), one a multi-component consultation paper (Albertson et al, 2012 ), and one a report (Kotlar et al, 2015 ).…”

“…Despite one paper highlighting that 40% of prison officers do not believe that pregnant women should be treated any differently to the other inmates, inclusive of the food they were provided with (Kirubarajan et al, 2022 ), five studies reported that pregnant women were routinely provided with additional food or snacks (Alirezaei & Roudsari, 2020 ; Bard et al, 2016 ; Ferszt & Clarke, 2012 ; Hackett, 2017 ; Kramer et al, 2023 ), and others were given a ‘pregnancy pack’, bag or vouchers (Albertson et al, 2012 ; Hackett, 2017 ; Kelsey et al, 2017 ). The specific contents of the ‘pregnancy pack’ differs between institutions and are not normally itemised.…”

“…The food that was provided was reported to be of poor quality, stodgy and either under or overcooked in three studies (Abbott, 2018 ; Alirezaei & Roudsari, 2022b ; Hackett, 2017 ) and several papers reported on the importance of providing vitamin supplements (Abbott et al, 2023 ; Albertson et al, 2012 ; Ferszt & Clarke, 2012 ; Kelsey et al, 2017 ; Kirubarajan et al, 2022 ; Kramer et al, 2023 ; Nair et al, 2021 ). These were seen as an easy way to ensure pregnant women’s nutritional needs were met.…”

“…In other cases, the water was unappealing to the women due to its taste, temperature, and the crusty taps they were expected to drink from (Abbott, 2018 ). Just three papers referred to the provision of additional milk for pregnant women (Albertson et al, 2012 ; Ferszt & Clarke, 2012 ; Kramer et al, 2023 ).…”

“…Nutrition information is shared with women by ‘Motherhood Behind Bars’. Policies are necessary to ensure the health of pregnant women—this includes nutrition Kramer et al ( 2023 ) USA To assess prison and jail pregnancy policies and practices with an emphasis on restraint use and compliance with anti-shackling legislation Twenty-two (22) state prisons and 6 jails Survey of policies related to correctional practices for pregnant prisoners All facilities provide vitamin supplements and most additional food and snacks that are high in protein. Some facilities had policies on pregnant women’s additional calorific needs (pregnancy specific diet) and the types of foods that are to be provided.…”