29th December 2024
On 29 December 2024, journalist Julieanne Corr of The Sunday Times reported on how overcrowding and staff shortages at Mountjoy lead to new mothers and babies spending much of the day in their cells, with some not seeing daylight.
Saoirse Brady, the Executive Director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT), contributed to the piece. She said the mother and baby unit at the Dochás Centre on the Mountjoy Prison Campus was currently used for women 'on protection': those who have to be kept separate from the general prison population.
She said this meant mother and baby accommodation was currently unavailable and that pregnant women and in some cases their babies, were living in cells.
At the time, 187 women were in the Dochas, which is meant to house 146 prisoners. Forty-five women are on remand or in pre-trial detention.
Saoirse commented on the overcrowded conditions. She referenced that she had heard that women in the Dochás are spending longer in their cells because of changes of regime and staff shortages. That means some might not get out until the evening and might not see daylight, which can have a really damaging impact on mental health and wellbeing.
Text of The Sunday TImes article:
Overcrowding and staff shortages at Mountjoy lead to new mothers and babies spending much of the day in their cells and some ‘might not see daylight’.
The number of pregnant women in Irish prisons has reached a record high this year, with some 29 expectant mothers incarcerated to date, including four who have given birth, The Sunday Times can reveal.
Fears have been raised that overcrowding and staff shortages at the Dochas centre in Mountjoy prison mean that mothers and babies are spending too much time in their cells and some “might not see daylight”.
Twenty-four women were pregnant while serving time in the Dochas centre, while five were in Limerick prison, according to figures from the Irish Prison Service (IPS).
The number is the highest since 2017, the first year that the data was collated.
In the past eight years 152 women have been pregnant while in prison. This figure includes 12 last year, 16 in 2022, 16 in 2021 and 20 in 2017.
Since 2007, children of less than 12 months old have been admitted to prison to stay with their mother to facilitate breastfeeding. Babies born during their mother’s jail term are treated likewise.
The IPS says arrangements are made for expectant mothers to have their babies in hospital and no children have been born in any prison.
Saoirse Brady, executive director of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, said the mother and baby unit at the Dochas centre was currently used for women “on protection”: those who have to be kept separate from the general prison population.
She said this meant mother and baby accommodation was currently unavailable and that pregnant women and in some cases their babies, were living in cells.
According to the trust, 187 women are in the Dochas, which is meant to house 146 prisoners. Forty-five women are on remand or in pre-trial detention.
“It’s very overcrowded,” Brady said. “I’ve also heard that women in the Dochas are spending longer in their cells because of changes of regime and staff shortages. That means some might not get out until the evening and might not see daylight, which can have a really damaging impact on mental health and wellbeing.”
Lynsey Black, an assistant professor at Maynooth University whose research includes gender, punishment and the death penalty, said the women’s physical space and surroundings were far from ideal.
“They’re in their room for the night with the baby. It’s a problem that’s a direct consequence of the overcrowding and complete lack of space,” she said.
“Being locked back into your room at night with your newborn and not being able to leave is not ideal. It’s an ongoing issue that the IPS are not directly in control of because they’re accepting increasing numbers of women from the court.
“Best practice should be that a woman who is pregnant should only be going into prison in the most compelling circumstances where there is no alternative.”
Brady said other options needed to be examined for pregnant women on minor charges such as theft.
“From a human rights perspective, the consensus is that you should do everything possible not to impose a custodial sentence or remand a woman in custody if she is pregnant or is about to give birth or has given birth recently,” she said.
“The majority of women are in there for short sentences of 12 months or less so it means it’s a less serious offence. If it’s something that isn’t very serious, then we need to ask why that woman is being handed into an overcrowded prison system.
“Drug treatment or mental health support in the community could be more appropriate and mean they are less likely to reoffend.
“The College of Policing in the UK has done a meta analysis which shows that for those less serious offences, where a custodial sentence of 12 months or less would be handed down, that actually that can do more damage in terms of reoffending than serving a sentence in the community.”
Black said while keeping a baby in prison with their mother until the first birthday was in the best interests of the child, it was “incredibly traumatic” for the mother when the baby was taken away.
“The IPS is deeply aware that once you get to the 12 months mark, then that is a hugely wrenching moment,” she said. “In all their documents, they say they try to handle it in a sensitive way, but there is no doubt that if a woman comes to the 12-month mark and is still in prison, and then her baby has to be removed.”
The IPS said there might be overlaps in the figures between the Dochas centre and Limerick prison, as Dochas was a “transient” facility, meaning it housed remand and sentenced prisoners.
It said: “The level of maternity care provided to women in custody is comparable to that available to women in the community.
“Pregnant women in the custody of the prison service receive all their antenatal care and education through the services of the local HSE maternity hospital.”
The IPS added: “Most women receive all their antenatal care external to the prison in routine clinics in the local maternity hospital. When needed and in cases of emergency, specialist midwives will attend the prison.
“In 2023 the construction of a new prison facility to provide accommodation for 56 female prisoners in Limerick prison was completed. This new prison offers state of the art facilities within the Limerick female prison to care for pregnant prisoners and provides areas where the care of mothers and babies can be facilitated in a safe manner.”
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.
