The Process of Becoming a Mother in French Prison Nurseries: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background Many variables can influence the process of motherhood, including environmental precarity and personal adversity. One about which little is known is the impact of incarceration on women during or after pregnancy. In France, pregnant women or those with children up to 18 months old can be incarcerated with their child in specific units called nurseries. We sought to explore incarcerated women's experience of motherhood in prison environments and its potential consequences on the construction of their identity as mothers. Method We conducted semi-structured interviews to collect the experience of the process of motherhood among 25 mothers and 5 pregnant women in 13 different prison nurseries in France and used interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore the data. Results Four different themes emerged: prison conflates their status as inmates and as mothers; it limits their freedom as mothers; it disrupts their family structure; and motherhood may help distinguish them from other inmates. Conclusion Incarceration of pregnant women or young mothers in prison nurseries might disrupt the process involved in becoming mothers, causing their identities as prisoners to englobe their identities as mothers and resulting in inappropriate parenting support by prison staff. A professional specialized in peripartum issues should help each woman disentangle her identity as inmate and mother and enable her placement at the facility best adapted to her individual needs as a mother. In any case, if prison must continue to be possible, it must always be a last alternative for women with young children.

Are custodial-based mothers and children's units evaluated, effective and aligned with a human rights-based approach? – a systematic review of the evidence

“…11.942/09 -Section 20 of the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998 of South Africa -HM Prison Service, 2008 1 2 Right to health 31 , 32 , 35 , 39 -Sustainable development goals (SDG 3, 5 and 16), -Nelson Mandela Rules -Bangkok Rules -(A/RES/70/175), -United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (A/RES/65/229). 4 Women with children Gender-responsiveness 35 , 55 , 57 -National legislation–associated with new international legislation (UN, 2010) -Performance of women's social movements (BRASIL, 2008) -New South Wales ‘Women's Action Plan’ 2 1 Access to health services 31 , 32 -Bangkok Rules 2 Right to express your religion, culture or spiritual preference 48 -United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 1982 1 Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) related healthcare and prevention 39 , 47 -Southern African Development Community (SADC) Minimum Standards for HIV in Prisons -Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ), adopted a resolution (UNODC, 2019) 2 Note: OECD, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. [ Table 2 reports all conventions, policies, legislation or legal instruments cited in included publications as relevant to the to M&Cs described in those publications and which indicate to what extent these M&Cs potentially align with a human rights-based approach].…”

“…2 ). Three specific theories were most commonly referenced: attachment theory, 25 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 33 , 38 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 46 , 48 , 49 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 fundamental human rights and the best interest principle, 26 , 27 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 35 , 40 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 51 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 60 , 61 and gender responsive strategies. 25 , 46 , 55 , 57 , 59

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“…Of the 21 publications referencing attachment theory, 20 suggested that M&Cs were beneficial to both incarcerated mothers and their children, while only one publication 30 presented the counter-argument that a prison environment is not suitable for healthy parent-child attachment or bonding. The reported benefits of M&Cs in terms of attachment theory can be grouped into 3 categories: M&Cs enable sustained contact between mothers and their offspring and enhance the mother–infant or mother–child bond 25 , 28 , 29 , 33 , 38 , 42 , 48 , 52 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 Children involved in M&Cs have improved early social, psychological, and emotional development and later life outcomes 25 , 28 , 29 , 33 , 38 , 43 , 46 , 49 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 M&Cs provide mothers with a motivation to be rehabilitated and to shift away from criminal behaviour 25 , 29 , 38 , 55 , 60 …”

“…M&Cs enable sustained contact between mothers and their offspring and enhance the mother–infant or mother–child bond 25 , 28 , 29 , 33 , 38 , 42 , 48 , 52 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 …”

General and reproductive healthcare experiences of formerly incarcerated women in the United States: a qualitative study

“…Internationally, many incarcerated women have the opportunity to remain with their infants in prison nurseries. Despite this effort to keep families together, these women describe feeling as if their prisoner identity engulfed their motherhood identity and limited their ability to parent as they desired (Abbott et al , 2020; Ogrizek et al , 2022).…”