When I was six months pregnant with my first child, I stood in court for the first time in my life and heard the words “remanded into custody”. This meant that I would be held in prison for six months as I waited for my trial date. It didn’t sink in until I was waiting to be transported that I was probably going to be in prison when I gave birth to my first child. It was my first pregnancy, and fear overtook me. What was going to happen to me? What would happen to my baby?
Prison will never, ever be a safe place to be pregnant. Two babies have recently died in women’s prisons when their mothers gave birth without medical assistance. One woman in HMP Styal gave birth in the prison toilets, and another woman in HMP Bronzefield gave birth alone at night in her cell. Yet still the government is sending pregnant women to prison, knowing the risks. My heart broke with grief and anger when I heard of these baby deaths, and I can understand how they happened because, in prison, you’re completely powerless and locked up at the mercy of prison guards. Anything can happen to you.
