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Giving Birth in Chains: The Shackling of Incarcerated Women During Labor and Delivery

By Real Cost of Prisons Project (The Sentencing Project)

Giving Birth in Chains: The Shackling of Incarcerated Women During Labor and Delivery By Anna Clark Created Jul 6 2009 - 7:00am As birthing choices are increasingly prominent in the public conversation, pregnant women are more and more empowered to decide what sort of care is right for their bodies and their child. Not so for pregnant women who are incarcerated. Not only are their decisions about care restricted, but many incarcerated pregnant women are physically restricted while giving birth: during labor and delivery, they are shackled. Consider the case of Shawanna Nelson. When Nelson was six months pregnant, she was incarcerated in Arkansas for passing bad checks. She went into labor during her short sentence. A correctional officer shackled her legs to opposite sides of the bed that transported her to a delivery room, removing them briefly during a nurse's examination...continue to full post

Full post as published by The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog on July 06, 2009 (boomark / email).