Pregnant Women in Prison 325must be provided so that incarcerated and pregnant women can be aware of their
options. Also, they should be taught parenting skills and child development. They
stated that these women needed to be housed in separate living areas, eat special
diets, wear maternity clothes, and have more contact with medical staff in case of
complications. Counseling programs which focus on the psychological stress the
pregnant inmates experience should also be included in prison policies. This appears
to be the area with the least amount of services for this offender population.
Another problem for pregnant inmates involves their use of unhealthy and ille-
gal substances. Detoxification programs designed specifically for pregnant women
should be developed within prisons. These programs should focus on the with-
drawal symptoms the mother and the unborn .child experience (Ryan & Grassano,
1992). There are complications and concerns unique to pregnant substance abusers
that should be dealt with in a separate program. These initiatives also could be de-
veloped outside the prison so that pregnant offenders continued to receive sen-ices
once released. Women often do not spend their entire pregnancies incarcerated.
One study reported that 52% of pregnant inmates were in prison for 8 weeks or less
of their pregnancy (S. L. Martin et a!., 1997). Thus, in addition to substance abuse
treatment, pre- and postnatal health care should be coordinated with the community
so that women do not develop complications once they leave the prison or jail.
One major area neglected with regard to pregnant inmates is providing correc-
tional staff with the appropriate knowledge and skills to help women have healthy
pregnancies while in prison. Often the officers are unaware of what may be po-
tentially harmful to an unborn fetus. Their primary concern is with the safety of
the overall prison, and they must have the same rules for all inmates in order to
accomplish this. However, these rules could be harmful to a pregnant woman, such
as where the inmate sleeps, what type of food she eats, and what type of work and
recreational activities in which she engages. If correctional staff are taught the key
areas of concern for pregnant inmates and what their psychological state might be
like because of them, then staff could be better prepared to handle physical and
mental health situations as they arise instead of after the damage has already been
done.
Suggestions for Future Research
Studies should be conducted on the effects of these short periods of incarceration in
relation to the health of the pregnant inmate's newborn (Safyer & Richmond, 1995),
It is important to learn if the prenatal care received is continued once the woman
leaves prison, and, if not, what the consequences are for the baby. More in-depth
evaluations also should be conducted of programs that have been implemented in
institutions for pregnant women. Are adequate services being provided and are
the women taking advantage of these services? Evaluations also could determine
if the health care is meeting minimum standards defined by the courts. Although