Breastfeeding While in Jail
2021; Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.; Volume: 16; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1089/bfm.2021.29187.aie
ISSN1556-8342
Autores Tópico(s)Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
ResumoBreastfeeding MedicineVol. 16, No. 9 EditorialFree AccessBreastfeeding While in JailArthur I. EidelmanArthur I. EidelmanSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:16 Sep 2021https://doi.org/10.1089/bfm.2021.29187.aieAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Women are the fastest growing population of individuals who are being incarcerated in North American correctional facilities. The majority of these women are mothers and an estimated 5% are either pregnant or have delivered an infant in the 12 months before their incarceration.1,2 A 2018 survey noted that in the United States, only eight states (New York, Nebraska, Washington, Ohio, South Dakota, Illinois, West Virginia, and Wyoming) had prison nursery programs that allowed for the incarcerated mothers to provide basic infant care and to facilitate a proper mother–infant dyadic relationship.2Unfortunately, the reality of this situation results in the fact that the majority of incarcerated women are all too often separated from their newborn infants and children. As a result, in turn they miss the opportunity to breastfeed (or even to provide pumped milk) with its loss of its attendant medical benefits to both mother and child. Most striking is the fact that in the United States, there is a federal law that obligates employers to provide both clean and safe physical space for breastfeeding and appropriate “lactation breaks” from work, whereas in contrast, there is no such law that obligates prisons and jails to provide such breastfeeding support activities.3,4 Thus incarcerated women are all too often deprived on their basic reproductive and health rights.5 As women of color are incarcerated at twice the rate of white women,6 this reality adds to the myriad of negative health disparities for this minority population.This month's issue of Breastfeeding Medicine highlights this ongoing public health problem. Asiodu and colleagues in a study entitled “Breastfeeding in Incarcerated Setting in the US” presented the results of a national (U.S.) survey of the “frequency and policies” regarding breastfeeding in prison facilities. Utilizing the data set from the pregnancy in prison statistics (PIPS) study,7 “a cross-sectional policy survey and an epidemiologic surveillance study of pregnancy and postpartum outcomes,” they presented the results from 22 state prison systems and 6 county jails. This includes not only data as to policy, but, most importantly what actually happened to the mothersThe results of the study reported that only seven (32%) prisons and two (33%) jails had a written policy on lactation. Of the 15 prisons without formal policies, 11 did not allow any means of lactation. One of the three jails with no written policy did not allow women to pump and none of them permitted breastfeeding. The results also documented that although some prisons and jails allow postpartum women to provide human milk for their infants, in reality few incarcerated women actually did so even at facilities that officially allow the practice. These results match previous studies that noted that incarcerated women experience significant challenges and barriers related to breastfeeding and pumping.8 In contrast, Asiodu also provided a summary of the encouraging results of novel programs in Alabama and California that did succeed in increasing breastfeeding rates, emphasizing that policies alone without implementation are not sufficient.The bottom line from this study is that there has only been a relatively minor improvement in the past few years in the policies and practices of the prison system in allowing for incarcerated mothers to exercise their basic health and reproductive rights. In contrast, there is clearly an increased awareness of the seriousness and magnitude of this problem that hopefully will serve as a stimulus for a conceptual change away from prisons serving in a restrictive punishment model to a rehabilitative model. Such a switch will, hopefully, include the acknowledgment by the system of the mothers' basic health rights and a realization that judicial justice is not served by perpetuating health injustice.—Arthur I. Eidelman, MD, FABMEditor-in-ChiefReferences1. National Commission on Correctional Health Care. Breastfeeding in Correctional Settings. Position Statement Revised April, 2018. Available at https://www.ncchc.org/breastfeeding-in-correctional-settings (accessed June 23, 2021). Google Scholar2. Eglash A. Breastfeeding During Incarceration in the USA. Institute for the Advancement of Breastfeeding and Lactation Education CQ #96, May 29, 2018. Available at https://lacted.org/questions/breastfeeding-during-incarceration-in-th-USA/#-text- (accessed June 23, 2021). Google Scholar3. Shlafer RJ, Davis L, Hindt LA, et al. Intention and initiation of breastfeeding among woman Who are incarcerated. Nurs Womens Health 2018;11:64–78. Crossref, Google Scholar4. Paynter MJ, Snelgrove-Clarke E. Breastfeeding in public for incarcerated women: The baby friendly steps. Int Breastfeed J 2019;14:16–23. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar5. Sufrin C, Jones RK, Mosher WD, et al. Pregnancy prevalence and outcomes in U.S. jails. Obstet Gynecol 2020;135:1177–1183. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar6. E. Ann Carson, BJS Statistician. Prisoners in 2018. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics; 2020. Available at https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=6846 (accessed July 8, 2021). Google Scholar7. Sufrin C, Beal L, Clarke J, et al. Pregnancy outcomes in US prisons, 2016–2017. Am J Public Health 2019;109:799–805. Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar8. Friedman SH, Kaempf A, Kauffman S. The realities of pregnancy and mothering while incarcerated. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law 2020;48:365–375. Medline, Google ScholarFiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 16Issue 9Sep 2021 InformationCopyright 2021, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishersTo cite this article:Arthur I. Eidelman.Breastfeeding Medicine.Sep 2021.663-663.http://doi.org/10.1089/bfm.2021.29187.aiePublished in Volume: 16 Issue 9: September 16, 2021Online Ahead of Print:July 22, 2021PDF download
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