Inmate forced to have baby in cell

I agree! Regardless of what the mother did to end up in prison, that baby is 100% innocent and deserves a nice start to life. Poor thing! How unsanitary too!

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Of course its barbaric. However, its jail and there are things that happen behind bars that are not ok. Besides what kind of pregnant mother gets herself locked up in jail in the first place? Not to say she deserves this. However, again its jail there are going to be consequences and people that do not have the best intentions of others on their mind.

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I cant believe this would happen in a "civil" world!!! That child could have died is that the only way action would be taken was if they had a death on their hands?? Now what they wait for one then do something about it?? Unbelievable one states imates whine untill they get chunky peanutbutter then get it along with smooth anouther has to beg to see a doctor and doesnt get too. America is slowly losing its foundation it turned on that child before its first breath!! :(

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The umbilical cord was cut with a prison guard's finernail . . . how uncivilized!! The child is an innocent . . . whatever crime was committed by it's mother, the child deserves better!! "ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God!" "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!" The prison officials should be held accountable!!! The world is going to hell in a bread basket. No cares about anyone else or their condition. If this were a member of your family, you all would be outraged!!

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I am sure that it isn't this prison's policy to make their pregnant inmates give birth in their cells. Usually, they transport their pregnant inmates to a hospital to give birth. This sounds like a pretty big screw-up on the prison's part. Thankfully, the mom and baby are doing fine.

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Even if I agreed that incarcerated pregnant women deserve to give birth like an animal in the field, the innocent baby deserves better.

Ginny, someplace back in the archives is another post about pregnant women and jail.

Not all prisons transport their women prisoners to hospital but most at least have an infirmary. The link didn't seem to work for me so this may have been a county jail rather than a larger prison.

Still, something should have been done. Jails are not pleasant places but we have an obligation to treat prisoners humanely. To give birth alone and frightened is inhumane.

I'll see if I can find another link to this story and also if I find the old post. I think it was on Blogging Baby but I'm not positive.

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This may be a different link to the current story. I couldn't find the old BB post so possibly I saw it somewhere else.

http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18593452&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=415898&rfi=6

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This may be the article I remembered. I can't imagine giving birth in shackles. And I certainly can't imagine trying to run anywhere in between contractions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/national/02shackles.html?ex=1184904000&en=89253420fca8d39c&ei=5070

I copied the link from the NYT because it's a mainstream publication.

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I dread to think what might have been under that prison guard's fingernails. This is disgusting, through and through.

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It's pretty indicative of the state of prisons that a pregnant inmate is not being monitored by infirmary staff...was there no nurse that they could bring to her cell to check her...and who could at least help in the delivery/call for an ambulance? She had to be close to term...did they have ANY plan for her delivery? Or do all their pregnant inmates just have their babies wherever?

Moms' bodies are pretty amazing and many of us really can deliver anywhere, but that doesn't mean they should be forced to do so alone in a prison cell. No matter what their previous crime. That would be terrifying. We treat our prisoners worse than animals.

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Just HORRIBLE!!!! THye should be FIRED!!!!

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I read other articles relating to this one, were she was being monitored in a cell with a camera and that she was checked out earlier by a nurse.
Call me shallow but it's no different then having a baby in the back of a cab or out in the wild.

I agree it's no way for a baby to come into the world but the mom should have thought about that months before her due date when she was selling drugs.

I also think her lawyer is trying to make a big deal for some publicity to lessen her jail term.
Mom was denied medical attention........ we all feel sympathy, were moms.

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I almost threw up when I read this! How can anyone be so cruel to another person? It is apalling to me that she had to go through that. I am sure it was all MEN who refused her because they have NO CLUE what it feels like to give birth. What a-holes! I think they should all be fired immediately! And if there were women around shame on them. If there were any complications, the mother and baby would probably died before they could reach the hospital. How very selfish of these guards to chance that.

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" Call me shallow but it's no different then having a baby in the back of a cab or out in the wild."

Yeah, that's shallow. And incorrect. Number one, a prison cell is not even *like* the back of a cab or the wilderness. Number two (heh, heh...I said "number two"), there is a big difference between being alone and knowing there is nothing anyone can really do about it and being alone because some prison guards don't believe you're in labor.

Yes, this situation points out problems with our prison system, but it is more telling of the problems we have with birth. Our society is so very wrong about childbirth.

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