Lead in part of the article, the rest of it is shocking also.  This will be
incomprehensible to other civilized countries such as Norway, I am sure.

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/030206HB.shtml

Prisons Often Shackle Pregnant Inmates in Labor 
    By Adam Liptak 
    The New York Times 
    Thursday 02 March 2006 
    Shawanna Nelson, a prisoner at the McPherson Unit in Newport, Ark., had
been in labor for more than 12 hours when she arrived at Newport Hospital on
Sept. 20, 2003. Ms. Nelson, whose legs were shackled together and who had
been given nothing stronger than Tylenol all day, begged, according to court
papers, to have the shackles removed. 
    Though her doctor and two nurses joined in the request, her lawsuit
says, the guard in charge of her refused. 
    "She was shackled all through labor," said Ms. Nelson's lawyer, Cathleen
V. Compton. "The doctor who was delivering the baby made them remove the
shackles for the actual delivery at the very end." 


I wonder which other states actually allow the mother to parent by
breastfeeding.  In Washington State there is provision for a minimum
security female offender to keep her baby with her and breastfeed with the
help of other inmates who have been cleared by staff to help her during the
night.  
Judy Ritchie
http://www.doc.wa.gov/facilities/wccwdescription.htm

RESIDENTIAL PARENTING PROGRAM

The Residential Parenting Program at Washington Corrections Center for Women
is a collaborative effort between the Puget Sound Educational Service
District and the Department of Corrections. There are several other nursery
programs in the country, but this one is unique because it is the only one
with an Early Head Start component. The program is designed to allow
selected pregnant, minimum custody inmates who give birth during their
incarceration, to return to the institution with their infants where they
will reside in a designated unit. The inmate mothers will be accountable for
the 24-hour care of their children while living in a supervised environment.
The Early Head Start Child Development Center will provide education and
role modeling for effective parenting as well as enriched environment for
the children to grow. The rationale behind the program is to promote
mother-child bonding and attachment that research has shown is essential to
healthy, intellectual, social and psychological development.

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