Working with mums behind bars

‘When I first began running a breastfeeding drop-in group at Holloway Prison, I didn’t really know what to expect or how the women would receive the service on offer.

I soon realised that they are just ordinary women who face all the same issues as other mothers but with the added pressure and constraints of being in prison’.

NCT breastfeeding counsellor Alison Shaloe began working with Birth Companions, a small charity that provides support for pregnant women and new mums in prison or detention centres, in September 2006 as part of a project to improve the breastfeeding rates at Holloway Prison.

The programme ran until May 2007, helping 28 women through a weekly drop-in group, an antenatal breastfeeding group every six to eight weeks and hospital visits after the delivery in order to provide breastfeeding support. The drop-in group soon became the best-attended session on the unit. As well as emotional support and information, the project also provided breastfeeding equipment at Holloway, including nursing bras and breast pads as well as a handheld breast pump for one of the women on the unit.

Designed as an informal session with a focus on breastfeeding issues, the drop-in group welcomed bottle-feeding and breastfeeding mums. Over the course of the project, the focus of the session moved onto postnatal issues such as immunisations and co-sleeping as well as dealing with separation from their children while being in the prison system. Alison says, ‘I found that the counselling skills I had gained through my NCT breastfeeding course really helped me to listen and to acknowledge feelings without judgement, which really helps mums dealing with becoming a parent while in prison. Our group also became a forum for these women to talk about some of the issues they have within the prison system.’

Prison procedures can cause a lot of pressure for mums behind bars. To get a place on the mother and baby unit, women agree to go back to work or education six weeks after the birth. This can be very difficult for the mums, as well as making exclusive breastfeeding virtually impossible. If a member of the family wants to spend time with the baby, the baby has to be away from the prison for a minimum of three days, which can be detrimental to breastfeeding.

‘Working within the restraints of the prison regulations has been difficult at times,’ admits Alison. ‘We had one baby who needed a tongue tie division operation as soon as possible as it was affecting breastfeeding. However, this was difficult to organise due to the waiting list for women to be allowed to go to outpatient appointments. The mother had to wait four weeks for her baby to be seen. Fortunately, with our support she was able to use nipple shields and continue feeding until the operation.’

Although the work has sometimes been frustrating, Alison finds the project very rewarding. ‘The women speak positively of the service on offer and even though they may not exclusively breastfeed their babies, they feel well supported and are able to discuss issues as they arise. I have learned so much from these women and the complexities of prison life both as an institution and from the perspective of the prisoner. Building up a rapport with these women that enabled them to open up about the issues they were facing was really fantastic – it’s been a great opportunity to use my skills to support women from all backgrounds.’

Making links in your area

After the great response to Jenny McLeish’s talk on pregnancy behind bars at Conference, we know that many branches would like to work with women dealing with pregnancy and becoming mums while in prison. Contact details for all the women’s prisons and immigration removal centres in the UK have been supplied to the nearest local branches for them to see what they can do to make links and offer support.

If you want to know more about this, please contact branchsupport@nct.org.uk