Why Perinatal Support for Incarcerated Birthing People is Essential

Written By BADT

by Cecilia Hogan

Will my baby look like me? Will I be a good parent? How long will labor take? Much of the pregnancy journey is spent waiting, wondering, and worrying. Ideally this happens in a nourishing community where the parent can receive support and access information. 

For those who are incarcerated while pregnant, there are additional concerns like questions about the legal case, length of time separated from their community, and worries about safety. And with female incarceration rates on the rise, pregnancies within the prison industrial system (aka criminal-legal system) are also likely to increase. (Incarceration rates dropped sharply during the pandemic but are back on the rise.) This separation from family, community, and economic opportunities impacts the children of the incarcerated parents. All birthing people deserve support during the perinatal period, not only for their mental health but for the life trajectory of their children.

Showing Up for Birthing Folks Who are Incarcerated

Giving Austin Labor Support (GALS), based in Austin, Texas, is dedicated to providing emotional, physical, and informational support to birthing people, especially communities who are systemically marginalized. We also provide community advocacy, working alongside healthcare providers in order to improve birth outcomes and strengthen families. GALS offers free prenatal, birth, and postpartum services, as well as free childcare for BIPOC postpartum clients through the Maternal Health Equity Coalition.

One of our core offerings is our jail program.  GALS birth workers meet with pregnant clients at the Travis County Correctional Facility to provide perinatal support groups and labor support. We partner with a social worker on staff at the jail to identify pregnant and postpartum individuals interested in services. Support groups facilitated by a GALS doula include birth education, emotional support, and access to resources. Fresh fruit and veggie snacks are brought to the groups. They are eligible to attend GALS groups for as long as they are at the facility and still interested in services, even after birth or in the event of pregnancy loss. We also check in to ensure that our clients’ needs are being met and as needed, we advocate for and uplift their needs with staff. 

When a client is in labor, the jail staff calls the GALS dispatch line, and an approved birth worker heads to the hospital to provide support. Folks who give birth while incarcerated are prohibited from calling family or other supports to come to the hospital, and aside from the doula, only nurses, an OB, and two jail guards are allowed in the room. Clients who are working with GALS benefit from continuous support, care, and witnessing that they are otherwise not allowed.

The Impact of GALS Both Inside and Outside of Jail

A view of a wall with barbed wire with a tree in front of it.

While providing labor support, we are able to take photos of the birth and of the parent and their baby. These photos go with the parent when they return to jail. This helps tremendously, since they are separated from their baby after only 72 hours together at the hospital.

At the Travis County Correctional Facility, new parents are able to have visits with their baby in person or on video. We also have a program where breastfeeding parents may have physical contact visits with their newborn to nurse them. Currently they are not allowed to pump and store milk and have to pump and dump if interested in continuing lactation. If this is desired, GALS provides information and resources to help parents maintain lactation without nursing. The nursing program normally isn’t used. Often this is due to lack of transportation for the newborn to be brought to the jail daily.

Since it is a county jail, the length of time parents stay varies from a few days to several months. Typically if they are at the jail for a few months it is either because their legal case is lagging, or court hasn’t yet been scheduled, or the judge decided they can serve time at the jail versus being moved to another facility. Most folks we work with are released before giving birth. They have the option of reconnecting with GALS for continued support outside of our jail program.

Considerations for Jail or Prison Birth Workers

If a jail or prison in your area allows doulas to serve incarcerated individuals, or you are interested in starting a program, here are some considerations for providing support:

  1. Self-education on the criminal-justice system.

    1. Some states still shackle pregnant individuals, some allow shackling until they are in active labor, and some prohibit it altogether. In Texas, shackling pregnant individuals in prisons at any time is prohibited. In other states it may be allowed until they are in active labor. Seek guidance on the shackling laws in your state.

    2. Every state also has varying laws around the amount of time they can remain with their newborn before separation. In Texas, they are allowed 72 hours with the baby at the hospital before transferring to the jail or prison. In other states this may be 24 hours or it may be 6 weeks together in a nursery.

    3. Encourage your client to know their rights and seek legal assistance.

    4. Read up on the criminal-justice system and how the United States came to have the highest incarceration rates in the world and racial disparities within the system.

  2. Create a program and advocate for services.

    1. A doula program at a jail or prison requires approval from the warden, security and other staff. Having support come from local justice advocacy organizations or your city, county, or state representations would be helpful in establishing the need for such a program.

    2. Partner with community organizations. There may already be other groups that are organizing for the human rights of folks who are incarcerated. Research and network in your area to see if other folks have already done some ground work so that you can collaborate with them. And partner with the social worker or other support staff at the facility to identify clients who may be interested in the program and to provide wrap-around support.

    3. Ideally, a jail-based program will include the voices, insights, and leadership of individuals with lived experience. Peer groups, along with individual support from doulas, provides clients with a community of folks with common experiences.

    4. A jail or prison birth support program should be trauma-informed. This may look like refraining from asking the clients what their charges are that led to incarceration since the legal case isn’t relevant to birth support and there could be stigma attached to the charge. 

    5. If a birth support program is established with your local facility, stay in communication with the social worker and medical staff so all are informed on who will call when the client is in labor to ensure the doula is notified with enough time to arrive at the hospital.

  3. Provide birth education.

    1. Clients in jail may not have access to the internet to look up medical or other information about their pregnancy. They may have a library where they can request books. Check if your facility’s library has updated and culturally relevant books on pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. 

    2. As with any doula client, have a conversation about what birth information they would like to know more about and bring questions to the visits.

    3. Reach out to the National Prison Doula Network to connect with others doing this work and to attend their quarterly meetings. Points of contact (and see resources at the end of the blog):

      1. Noël Marsh

      2. Rebecca Shlafer

  4. Plan for birth.

    1. Review birth and postpartum plans and preferences. You may discuss options for pain management, lactation goals, preferences for baby care and where baby sleeps in the hospital, and so on.

    2. If the client is on medication such as methadone, provide evidenced-based information for the medical staff to support them in advocating for breastfeeding after birth if the client desires. 

  5. Address longer-term postpartum care.

    1. Ask the client if they have received information on checking their fundal height on their own and know signs of excessive bleeding or postpartum mood disorders so they can advocate for themselves when they need additional medical or mental health care.

    2. The facility may have services such as counseling, parenting classes, or spiritual services which can support the client during postpartum healing.

    3. If the client will be released soon, talk to them about their support system in their community and resources available to them. 

My Experience with GALS Jail Program

Working with clients at the Travis County Correctional Facility for the last 5 years has been incredible. Clients come from diverse backgrounds including housed and unhoused situations. The groups offer a time for them to talk through what is going on in their lives and to get mental and emotional support; there are many laughs and tears.

An ongoing challenges we face in this work is inconsistent communication from the  jail. Sometimes this results in their failure to call GALS when a client is in labor. This may happen because the guards weren’t notified of the plan to call a doula. There are many staff involved in the medical care, transport, and security of the client, and at times the call to the doula does not occur. In these cases, we still follow up for postnatal support as soon as we are notified that the client gave birth.

Being incarcerated can be a dehumanizing and isolating experience that takes away the  sense of control over one’s life. What would you lose if taken away from your community for several months? Your job, kids, or home? People sometimes wait months in jail before their case is seen in court; it can be a very slow process.

It is heartbreaking to witness clients being separated from their baby, as they return to jail after birth. This experience can be traumatic to the parent and the infant. Trauma only begets trauma and our criminal justice system tears many infants and children from their parents. The incarceration rates during the pandemic proved that as a nation we can choose drastically different policies to reduce incarceration if prioritized for the wellness of the nation.

Learn more about GALS and our other program or donate to help sustain services such as our jail program by visiting our website!

Recommended Resources from the National Prison Doula Network:


Cecilia Hogan is a Brazilian American licensed clinical social worker in Austin, Texas. Her professional background is in housing services for young parents experiencing homelessness. Cecilia has worked for 5 years with Giving Austin Labor Support as a doula providing services for Portuguese speaking GALS clients and perinatal support groups and labor support for clients incarcerated at the Travis County Correctional Facility. She also has experience with gardening education for youth and currently works as an administrative assistant at Fruitful Commons, a nonprofit supporting grassroots leaders in community-led agriculture and stewardship of the natural commons.

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