Hospital Restrictions Experienced by Women who Give Birth While Incarcerated

Women who are incarcerated give birth in community hospitals, but under conditions that differ dramatically from women who present from community settings. However, systematic examinations of the full breadth of possible restrictions imposed upon incarcerated women hospitalized for childbirth and recovery are lacking, limiting knowledge on how carceral status affects hospital practices for this population. To bridge this gap, we identified the electronic medical records of 180 women who gave birth in a community-based hospital while in custody of a state prison between June 2014 and July 2022 and extracted textual data related to care restrictions imposed during hospitalization for childbirth and recovery. We found that 45 records contained documentation of one or more atypical restrictions. Specific restrictions documented related to mother-infant contact (n=14), shackling (n=12), breastfeeding (n=10), infant-caregiver visitation (n=8), infant pictures (n=6), and health service access/involvement (n=3). Implications of restrictions are discussed.