In addition to being the world leader when it comes to incarceration, the United States also leaves much to be desired when it comes to the treatment of pregnant inmates. And in Minnesota, they have figured out that supporting incarcerated pregnant women throughout the birth process might actually lead to improved outcomes for the mother and child.
Mothers in the prison were giving birth without family members, loved ones or any emotional support to help them. [Erica Gerrity, founder of the Minnesota Prison Doula Project recalls saying many said they felt invisible].
“They were naming the fear of going to give birth by themselves in the prison, and the fear of going to say goodbye to their children, of people not caring if their babies lived or died,” said Gerrity.
Gerrity wanted to help incarcerated mothers before, during, and after birth. And that’s why she started the Minnesota Prison Doula Project.
It’s hard to believe that this is actually new, but it is. It was less than three years ago that state legislation finally caught up with the times—not only limiting restraints on pregnant women in custody but also offering them education and medical support.
“In 2014 a bill passed to limit restraints on incarcerated pregnant women, and also to allow access to pregnancy and prenatal education support and labor support.”
Doulas help educate women and emotionally support women throughout their pregnancy, birth, and even postpartum.
“For me I understand birth to be one of the most empowering experiences of a woman’s life, and it can also be a traumatic experience,” said Genevive Bojado, a Doula with the project.
In a civilized society, these kinds of services are essential and have helped many women deliver healthy babies. Who knows what kinds of complications they may have experienced if they had not have been provided with this kind of care?
Since starting in 2010, the Minnesota Prison Doula Project has helped almost 1,000 women, and have attended around 120 births.
Now, they’re working on making their services available to women in jails including St. Louis County, and rural areas.
“Every woman giving birth, every person giving birth, deserves to feel heard, to have a voice, and to be educated about their choices,” said Bojado.
This is a prime example of when states do the right thing and spend resources wisely. Of course, there is a much wider conversation to be had about the unnecessarily large numbers of people filling our jails and prisons for minor crimes and the way that mass incarceration is destroying our society and poor communities and communities of color. And one has to wonder, in an increasingly misogynistic society with a serial sexual assaulter at the head of the government, how long programs like these will be funded. But for now, this is one very small and necessary step toward humane treatment of incarcerated women in the United States.