Pregnancy in prison

Some prisoners arrive in prison while they are pregnant; others become pregnant during their imprisonment. Of the 39 women encountered, 10 gave birth in prison. To give birth, the women are transferred to the Bruges prison. The birth takes place in a hospital near the prison, which is used to managing these situations. The woman concerned is then sent back to the prison in Bruges for a few days or weeks. “The transfer to prison can even take place just a few hours after the woman has given birth. This return to prison can be a bad experience for some prisoners. It can lead to a lot of anxiety because some people don’t speak the language or because their family is too far away to visit them. But there is no general trend, some prisoners are satisfied and others not”, says Salim Megherbi.

“The most difficult thing about the Bruges prison is the isolation. Sometimes two or three days pass before the father sees his child and sometimes a month passes before a prisoner returns to her original prison and the grandmother can see her grandson, ” explains Stephanie Linchet.

And this is not the only problem. If the transfer to the Bruges prison is planned and poorly organized, for the rest there is no established protocol. “The equipment or personnel available for supervision of pregnancy or childbirth varies from one prisoner to another”, continues the researcher.

In some prisons, the equipment for monitoring a pregnancy is outdated; the women are therefore monitored in hospitals other than the prison hospital, whereas in other establishments, the equipment is of a much higher quality than in other hospitals and the doctors consider that they can monitor women in optimal conditions. Where monitoring is not of the highest quality, some women call on the services of a doctor from outside, and this at their own cost.  

Mothers grouped together

The policy of allowing children into prison is possible up to the age of three as we have said. Yet prison infrastructures are not really designed to accommodate children and there is nothing to state the conditions in which they should be accommodated. Again, the situation differs from one prison to another.

“At Mons the situation was catastrophic at the time the survey was carried out.  Today, this prison no longer accommodates children because there was no planning for this. At Lantin and Berkendael, everything is well organized”, states Salim Megherbi.

At Lantin, the women with a child or with children occupy part of a wing. They have access to a play area, a kitchen and toilet facilities. “When we carried out the survey there were three cells with mother and child”, recalls Stephanie Linchet. The mothers also have access to the exercise yard at certain pre-ordained times when they are alone together.

Aided by their fellow-prisoners

At Berkendael, the cells for mothers and children are bigger but are not separated from the others. Also, visits to the exercise yard for mothers and other prisoners occur at the same time. The women with children can only go out into the corridor outside the cells when there is nobody around. Another particularity of Berkendael is the fact that the mothers can, if they so wish, share their cell with another prisoner. In this way, a mother can be helped by her co-prisoner who will take care of the child when the mother has to work, for example. “The women who choose this option are mostly of Latin American origin”, explains Stephanie Linchet.
At Lantin, on the other hand, a woman with a child is not permitted to work.

The two systems have their respective advantages and disadvantages. “The system put in place at Berkendael allows women to have a break. Failing this, they would be with their child around the clock. This break enables them to relax and go to work...” considers Salim Megherbi and Stephanie Linchet agrees “At Lantin, mothers are always together. That can cause tensions”.

“But the system implemented at Berkendael requires quality support services. What happens if there is a problem with the resource person? I would not automatically claim that the Berkendael concept is the best one; even though it is important to allow mothers some time on their own,” says Salim Megherbi.