Pregnant in Prison: The Hidden Crisis Facing Women Behind Bars

Pregnancy is a vulnerable time for any woman—but for those incarcerated, the experience can be harrowing. As the number of pregnant women in prison continues to rise, campaigners are calling for urgent reforms to protect expectant mothers and their babies from unnecessary suffering.

A Growing Crisis

The number of pregnant women in prisons across England and Wales has increased by 36% in the past year alone. Shockingly, one in three of these women is on remand, meaning they have not been convicted of a crime but are being held while awaiting trial. According to the Ministry of Justice, incarcerated pregnant women are seven times more likely to experience stillbirth and twice as likely to give birth prematurely.

Yet, despite these alarming statistics, accessing medical care behind bars remains a challenge, as one woman’s story highlights.

Suzy’s Story: Pleading for Medical Help

Suzy*, 35, discovered she was pregnant after a routine medical check-up while on remand. The news was a shock, but she had little time to process it before facing another ordeal: trying to get proper medical care.

One night, Suzy woke up in excruciating pain, terrified that something was wrong with her baby. She immediately alerted prison officers, who debated whether to take her to the hospital—not based on the urgency of her condition, but on staff availability.

“To go to A&E, you need two officers to be present with you,” Suzy explained. “It took time to find officers who were willing to go.”

When she was finally transported, she endured the humiliating process of being patted down and handcuffed while in agonising pain. To make matters worse, after hours in A&E, doctors informed her that there was no early pregnancy unit at the hospital and that she would have to wait another week for care.

On the way back to the prison, an officer remarked, “Maybe it’s for the best.” Suzy broke down in tears.

“I didn’t even know what was wrong with me or my baby, yet I was being told it was probably better that I wasn’t pregnant at all,” she recalled.

Although she was eventually cleared of her charges and released six months later, by then she was heavily pregnant. She has since given birth to a healthy baby and now works to support other women in similar situations.

The Tragic Reality: Preventable Deaths

For some women, the failures of the prison system prove fatal.

In 2019, Rianna Cleary, a teenager on remand at HMP Bronzefield, gave birth alone in her cell after multiple calls for help were ignored. When prison officers finally responded, her baby, Aisha, had already died.

Similarly, in 2022, Louise Powell at HMP Styal gave birth to a stillborn baby in a prison toilet, after staff dismissed her pain as menstrual cramps.

Despite the NHS deeming all pregnancies in prison as high risk, these cases highlight a system that is failing to protect pregnant inmates.

A System in Urgent Need of Reform

Advocacy groups such as Level Up and No Births Behind Bars argue that prisons cannot provide a safe environment for pregnant women. Instead, they call for community-based alternatives, such as specialist women’s centers, which provide mental health support, addiction services, and legal aid—addressing the root causes that often lead women into the justice system.

Suzy, now an advocate for prison reform, stresses that the current system prioritizes punishment over well-being.

“Officers decide whether you go to the hospital or not, and they’re not medically trained,” she said. “In some cases, officers have assisted in births, which is illegal.”

What Needs to Change?

In response to mounting pressure, the government has introduced a mitigating factor that allows judges to consider alternatives to custodial sentences for pregnant women. However, this does not apply to those on remand—meaning one-third of pregnant prisoners remain at risk.

A new Women’s Justice Board has also been launched to reduce the number of women in prison, but campaigners say these measures don’t go far enough.

Mel Evans, co-founder of No Births Behind Bars, said:

"If we are to prevent any more baby deaths in custody, we need new legislation to keep pregnant women and new mothers in the community."

The Bottom Line

Prison was never designed to accommodate pregnancy, and the tragic consequences of inadequate care are becoming all too common. As calls grow for urgent reform, one thing is clear: no woman should have to beg for medical care, give birth alone in a cell, or lose her baby due to a system that sees her as an inconvenience rather than a human being.

If the justice system truly believes in rehabilitation, it must recognize that pregnant women don’t belong behind bars.