by Maggie Goins

Created on: June 18, 2008

I scanned through the articles in the morning newspaper, eyes barely open, coffee cup in hand. Hold on.... Women delivering their babies in prison? Babies staying with their incarcerated mothers for 18 months, cared for in a prison nursery?

I rubbed my eyes and double checked to see if I had misread there and found I hadn't. I was then wide awake, ready to fly to that prison in a grandmotherly rage to save those poor little innocent babies. I had seen prison movies and TV shows. Everyone knows what happens inside prison walls. What in the world were people thinking to subject babies to such horror?

Then my inner NICU nurse took over. Had any of the babies born at my hospital to guarded moms in shackles cared what mistakes had been made? Were they at all aware that things weren't as they should be? All they knew was this soft, warm person was their mommy, the voice they had been hearing as they grew in the womb. Mother-baby bonding is crucial for the health of the new baby and the relationship of the two. Breast feeding, the best feeding, would be out of the question were the baby removed from her care. Formula feeding would be possible, of course, but the closeness of the mother and newborn at feeding time wouldn't be.

Was this 'babies in prison' an isolated incident? Looking into it I found this was not a new thing, just a trend that is becoming more common as the number women in prison increases. Six states have prison nurseries, New York having cared for prison born babes for more than a century.

What kind of prisoner can be allowed to do this? Certainly, not a woman who had been convicted of a violent act or was a threat to anyone. The woman qualifying for this program would need to be one who was not dangerous, but one who had broken the law by theft, for instance. This mother can also greatly benefit from caring for her baby, as she can maintain her hope for making a better life when she gets out. Studies of women in this type of program show they have been far less recitative, not repeating her crimes, than those in other situations.

Back to the baby. Is this really what is best for her or him? A good argument against a baby staying with a mother in prison is that this baby could be taken from her and placed with a strong, clean living, good decision making foster family. Maybe this would work out, but maybe not. This baby could end up living in the system, though, going from family to family, never forming the attachments that are necessary to the good psychological health needed for future relationships.

I believe babies should stay with their mothers if at all possible. They are better off not losing that close contact, having her be a constant presence, forming the unbreakable bond that mothers and babies need and should have.

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