Pregnancy Outcomes

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 The results of childbirth in prison are statistically different compared to two other categories. One is a general control group that factors in pregnancy of women among all classes within developed countries and the other is known as a disadvantaged control group. The disadvantaged control group is data collected from women who may be lower class, suffer from mental disorders, or suffer from substance abuse. The categorization of the disadvantaged control group comes from the imprisoned population being made up of people who fall into these categories.
 
An observational study was performed by comparing 1,960 imprisoned pregnant women to 10,858 non-incarcerated pregnant women. Out of this control group 1,209 were categorized as disadvantaged. Between these three groups the disadvantaged control had the largest percentage of miscarriages, stillbirths, premature births, and lower birth weights. The control group that was not labeled as disadvantaged had the least of these results, and the imprisoned women fell in between.

While this study found that incarcerated pregnant women were more likely to have a better outcome compared to the disadvantaged control group, they were also more likely to report an increase in stress, anxiety, depression and a feeling of being powerless compared to the general population. In different prisons postnatal care has been shown to decrease these symptoms. However, many women who were imprisoned during birthing reported not knowing about the resources that were supposedly available to them. While the prenatal care was provided, the post birth recovery was worsened by the treatment and being separated from their child.



Wiley Online Library | Scientific Research Articles, Journals, ..., onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1471-0528.2005.00749.x/full. Accessed 1 Apr. 2025.

Comments

  1. Kimberly BennyApril 14, 2025 at 7:27 PM

    It's upsetting to see so many disadvantaged women go through the tragedy of a miscarriage. It can be emotionally devastating to experience such things without proper support and care available. I find it extremely concerning that incarcerated women have an increase of such negative emotions because even though child birth can be frightening it shouldn't cause depression. Women through all stages of pregnancy should know about and have access to the necessary resources for a comfortable and healthy pregnancy whether they are in prison or not. I enjoyed learning about this thanks

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