Incarcerated Women: Pregnant Behind Bars
Being pregnant is a vulnerable time for a woman. But Imagine the thought of going into labor while incarcerated and the thought of handing your newborn over to the foster care system? Abigail Blue is the former executive director of The Birth Attendants: Prison Doula Project, which closed over 5 years ago, saw the plight of incarcerated pregnant women on a daily basis. During Washington state’s last legislative session, Governor Inslee signed a bill allowing volunteer midwives and doulas to be able to give incarcerated women pre-birth counseling and help them prepare for the temporary loss of their child. The bill takes effect June 7th, 2018.
Incarcerated Women: Giving Birth in Prison
Margerita Guzman is an inmate at Washington Correctional Center for Women in Gig Harbor who became locked up while pregnant. She shares her experience of giving birth behind bars and highlights issues mothers face while in the prison system with KBCS’s Yuko Kodama.
Producers Yuko Kodama and Ruth Bly
Incarcerated Women: Prison Pet Partnership
Sheri Ramsey knows the hardships of a long prison sentence all too well. She’s serving a 25 year term at the Washington Corrections Center for Women. But she’s found hope and work training through the Prison Pet Partnership where she trains service dogs. Inmates also provide grooming and boarding services through the program. KBCS’s Yuko Kodama spoke with Ramsey at the prison kennel about the effects of the program on her sentence.
Incarcerated Women
KBCS begins a new weekly series on Incarcerated Women.
The United States incarcerates more of its citizens than any other country in the world. Of the over 740,000 people incarcerated in the United States, well over 200,000 are women. The effects on families, communities and taxpayers is pronounced. Over the next months KBCS takes a look at the impacts of locking up the women on our community.