Motherhood. The very word evokes visions of tenderness, nurturing and bonding that is a common link between women throughout the world. Even in this day and age when women can achieve almost anything they want, raising a child is a goal many women still strive to fulfill.
Of course, for some women, giving birth is a hardship, not only physically, but also financially and emotionally. Yet the hope that their child will thrive and blossom, and grow to live a better life, is almost hardwired into a woman’s genetic makeup. Studies have shown that when a woman fosters a strong bond with her child, that child is less likely to grow up to have problems later in life.
But what happens when a child is taken from its mother hours after birth? What happens when the natural bond between mother and child is broken, sometimes permanently? What happens when a mother gives birth while incarcerated and, as is often the case, must relinquish custody within as little as 48 hours?
In most states a woman who gives birth to a child while incarcerated must surrender custody of that child to a family member, or other person or agency, for foster care. In the best case scenario, loving family or friends will raise the child until the mother is released. In the worst case scenario, the child is placed in a less than loving environment and eventually adopted against the mother’s will. Prisons throughout the country are filled with the anguished wails of a mothers whose children have been legally taken away from them without their consent or wishes.
Not all states willingly severe the bond between mother and child quickly. The New York Post reports that 9 states allow a mother to care for her child while in prison for a period that ranges from three months to three years. Connecticut might become the tenth state. Department of Corrections Commissioner Leo Arnone has taken a courageous stand and ordered a study that will weigh the pros and cons of building a nursery in the state’s only female prison, located in Niantic.
Some people hearing about a proposed “babies behind bars” program might jump to oppose it on the grounds that babies should not be raised in a prison. But while technically the babies would live in a correctional facility, they would be housed with their mothers in a cheerful area designed as a nursery. The mothers who participate in prison nursery programs are carefully selected and are required to take parenting classes. Infants and toddlers don’t know they are in prison. All they know is that they are with their moms and getting the love and guidance, which is crucial for healthy development to end the cycle of incarceration.
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