Women in Prison responds to the PPO report into the death of Baby B
Today, 11 January 2022, the Prison Probation Ombudsman has published its report into the death of a baby in prison.
On 18 June 2020, Ms B, who was a prisoner at HMP Styal, gave birth to a stillborn baby (Baby B) in her cell. This is the second report in less than six months to have investigated the death of a baby in an English prison. In September 2020 the PPO released another report into a death of a baby in HMP Bronzefield which identified that all pregnancies in prison are high risk.
Chief executive of Women in Prison, Dr Kate Paradine, says: “This is the second report into the death of a baby in prison in six months and another example of a catastrophic failure of healthcare in prisons. Ms B spent hours in severe pain without pain relief or medical support. This should never have happened. Prisons are not safe for women, especially if they are pregnant, and they simply do not have access to healthcare that is equivalent to in the community.
“There is another way, when women are supported in the community, they have better access to the care they need and can tackle the issues that sweep them into crime in the first place, like trauma, domestic abuse, and poverty.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS :
Dr Kate Paradine, chief executive of Women in Prison, is available for interviews.
For media enquiries, please contact Molly Fleming at [email protected], Phone: 07971951477
Women in Prison, Birth Companions and Level Up have a joint campaign to stop sending pregnant women to prison.
For key facts on women in prison here.
Women in Prison (WIP) is a national charity that delivers support for women affected by the criminal justice system. We work in prisons, the community and ‘through the gate’, supporting women leaving prison. We run Women’s Centres and ‘hubs’ for services in Manchester and London and campaign to end the harm caused to women, their families and our communities by imprisonment
See wip.pastelstg.top for more information. Twitter: @WIP_live