Anger As Number Of Babies Born In Prison At Record High

Record numbers of women are giving birth in prison – with the figures doubling in the past four years. In 2005 there were three babies born to women in HMP Cornton Vale, rising to five the following year and then seven last year. This year there have been six already and more are expected.

Although the figures are low, experts say the impact on children and parents is unacceptably high.

Prison reformers and charities have demanded that women should be locked up only in extreme circumstances, saying that keeping mothers and young babies in prison can harm young children and does nothing to cut crime.

Scotland has one of the fastest- growing female prisoner populations in Europe, despite repeated promises from ministers to tackle the problem.

Earlier this year it peaked with 415 women behind bars. In 2002 there were 273 women in jail.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice show that 283 children were born in prisons in England and Wales between April 2005 and July this year, an average of 1.7 a week, and the numbers are rising.

Tam Baillie, assistant director of policy with Barnardo’s Scotland, said: “We know already that a large proportion of the prison population should not be there in the first place. It would be all the more tragic if a child was born into these circumstances if we knew the mother should not have been in a prison.

“It gives added urgency to the calls for appropriate community support and services for such women, to avoid children being denied the best possible upbringing. If it did happen, we would want it to be the absolute minimum of time that a child would be residing in custody.”

Mothers are rigorously assessed and regularly drug-tested in Cornton Vale, Scotland’s only female jail, and the prison service takes the advice of social work on who should or should not be allowed to bond with their newborn children behind bars. Those who test positive immediately have their offspring removed. Few children are allowed to stay beyond 18 months as it is deemed inappropriate.

For the babies spending their first months in Cornton Vale, family visits can be arranged within the prison grounds.

The women do not actually give birth in the prison, except perhaps in exceptional circumstances, but are escorted to hospital at Stirling.

Tracey Coutts is bringing up her baby daughter Kiera while in the custody of Her Majesty’s Prison service.

“It’s really tough as you feel like you’re totally on your own,” she said. “My mum works full-time and lives a long way away so there is no-one to take her while I take a shower. It’s a struggle and the cells are really pretty small.”

Maggie Mellon, director of children and family services with Children 1st, said: “The question is how to avoid sending women to prison for repeated short sentences? The problem is that these children are not just being born in prison but into a lifetime of separation because many of these women will be released without support and will later be returned to prison.

“It is vital to ensure the mothers and babies are getting good pre and ante-natal support and that when they are discharged into the community that they get relevant support and stable accommodation.”

Ian Gunn, governor at Cornton Vale, said: “Our approach in cases like this is always to consider what is best for the child.

“We also recognise the importance of bonding between mother and child.

“On this basis (the Scottish Prison Service) will endeavour to ensure that medical and social care for mother and child are the best available before, during and after the birth while ensuring that public safety and security are not compromised.”

A decade ago Henry McLeish, then the home affairs minister, pledged to halve the number of women jailed in Scotland by the year 2000. The population, which was then 184, has more than doubled since then.

Earlier this year the Scottish Prisons Commission, chaired by Mr McLeish, fell short of calling for Cornton Vale to be emptied, but made it clear that far too many women and short-term offenders were being incarcerated.

Mr McLeish also wanted to eliminate the imprisonment of women under 18. Despite this, women as young as 15 are held at Cornton Vale when there is no alternative.

Kathleen Marshall, Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, said: “The increase in the number of babies being born in Cornton Vale gives real cause for concern – they may have time to bond with their mothers but that does not make the situation acceptable.”