Handcuffing of pregnant prisoners raises old issue

In 1996, a report that a pregnant prisoner had been held in restraints during labour led to political outcry and prisons were told to end the practice.

Last week, it was revealed that multiple women detained at HMP Bronzefield have been restrained in handcuffs during labour – including while having contractions.

Over the last three decades, successive governments’ commitments to improve conditions for women held in the UK prison estate have failed to materialise, while the number of women in custody has nearly doubled.

Last Wednesday, Channel 4 told the story of “Joanna”, not her real name, who was being held on remand at Bronzefield while pregnant.

Joanna said she was handcuffed to a prison officer for more than 30 hours while she was in labour and was told by the officers: “Sorry, rules are rules”.

Joanna’s solicitor Jane Ryan, who is also representing another woman held at Bronzefield, told Tortoise she has “strong concerns” that the use of restraints on pregnant women was a widespread practice at the prison and is calling for an independent inquiry.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said its policy is that pregnant women should not be restrained “unless a risk assessment has deemed it essential to do so” and United Nations guidance for the treatment of women prisoners says restraints should “never be used on women during labour, during birth and immediately after birth”.

Ryan also argues that the use of the restraints breaches the women’s Article 3 rights as it is “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.

A spokesperson for Sodexo Justice Services, which is contracted to run Bronzefield, said the women's claims were “subject to ongoing legal proceedings” so could not comment, but added that the safety and wellbeing of the women in the prison was taken “very seriously”.

MoJ figures show that there were 215 pregnant women in prison over the 12-month period of April 2023 to March 2024 – roughly six per cent of the total women’s prison population. In 2023/24 there were 53 births to women in custody, with 98 per cent of these taking place in hospital. All pregnancies in prisons are designated by the NHS as “high risk”, with women in prison seven times more likely to suffer a stillbirth than the general population.