Kansas sees dozens of births by jailed women last 4 years

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas jails face a rising likelihood of births behind bars amid a nationwide increase in women’s incarceration.

The Kansas Department of Corrections saw more than 45 babies delivered by women in its custody in the past four years, the Hutchinson News reported .

Between 6 and 8 percent of incarcerated women are pregnant at any given time in the U.S., according to the American Public Health Association. That comes as the number of the country’s incarcerated women has been increasing at a rate 50 percent higher than men since 1980, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Eight states have nursery programs allowing new mothers to raise children while serving time. Kansas’ Corrections Department doesn’t plan to start such a program in Topeka, the state’s sole women’s facility.

Columbia University researchers found mothers participating in nursery programs had lower recidivism rates. They also found preschool age children separated from their mothers due to incarceration had severe anxiety and depression than the children in prison nursery program.

New mothers behind bars in Kansas must give up their babies to the Department of Children and Families and can only see them on visitation days. Capt. Shawn McClay said he hasn’t had an inmate give birth since he took over as the Reno County jail administrator in 2015. But he said there are protocols to help expectant mothers behind bars.

Women in labor at Reno County’s jail go to the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center while accompanied by a guard, McClay said. Until then, the women remain in the jail’s general population.

“These ladies that we have are human, like everyone else,” he said. “Not saying the risk wouldn’t be there, but they know it is an unborn child inside of that woman as well. I think the risk is pretty minimal.”

The state Department of Children and Families, which works to place the infants in homes, has recently been scrutinized for missing children. The agency also failed to act on reports of child abuse to a 3-year-old found encased in concrete in Wichita last year.

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Information from: The Hutchinson (Kan.) News, http://www.hutchnews.com