Pregnancy in Prison

PREGNANCY

KATE CHIVERS, ENGAGEMENT MANAGER AT BIRTH COMPANIONS, TELLS US ALL ABOUT THE WORK THEY DO… Your Inside Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and Motherhood in Prison

women in custody. We offer support to women in the perinatal period, which is pregnancy, birth and early parenting. We make regular visits to the prisons we work in and offer groups for pregnant women to come together, talk about their pregnancy and access information and support. We also meet with women on Mother & Baby Units to offer support in early parenting. We have a dedicated team of “Pregnancy in prison can be emotional and overwhelming. It is good to find out about what help and information is available and to get “Pregnancy in prison can be emotional and staff and volunteers who are passionate about providing women with clear, up to date information and non –judgemental, as much support as you can.” – a woman overwhelming. trauma-informed support. Through our supported by Birth Companions It’s good to get work, we identified a need to offer detailed Birth Companions is a charity that has worked support.” information about all aspects of pregnancy and with pregnant women and early parenting in prison in new mothers in prison since one booklet and in 2016 we were 1996. We began by working at HMP awarded funding to develop this resource. Holloway and we currently run services in “Your Inside Guide to Pregnancy, Birth three prisons, HMP Peterborough, HMP and Motherhood in Prison” was designed Foston Hall and HMP Bronzefield. Over and written by the Birth Companions staff the years we have supported more than 2000 team and by women who had been in prison

PREGNANCY

themselves and are now part of our Lived Experience Team. Our Lived Experience Team at Birth Companions is a group of women who have been supported by us, and now work with us to highlight the needs of women in prison and work to bring about change. The team supported us through writing the guide, to ensure it is supportive and covers all the questions women may have. We also held workshops with women in prison and women in the community to ask about what to include in the guide.

The guide is for anyone who is pregnant and in prison or facing a prison sentence, is currently living on an MBU with their baby, or has given birth in the last 18 months and been separated from their baby.

It has information about making decisions about your pregnancy, what support is available to you, birth and what to expect. It covers Mother and Baby Units in prison and how to apply, and the experience of being separated from your baby. It also has sections on preparing for release, and includes information on who you can speak to for support.

IN PRISON

To get a copy of the guide, please write to us at; Dalton House 60 Windsor Avenue London, SW19 2RR (please note this is only a postal address and not an office) Or email Info@birthcompanions.org.uk Or Call 020 7117 2824 and leave a message with name, location and prison number.