Prisoners: Childbirth

(asked on 24th April 2018) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the procedure is for recording (a) births and (b) stillbirths in women's prisons.


Answered by
Phillip Lee Portrait
Phillip Lee
This question was answered on 2nd May 2018

It is a requirement for mothers (or fathers) to register births (and still births) within 42 days and prison staff will arrange for registrars to come into the establishment to do this where necessary.

While there is no requirement for prisons to keep a central record of women who give birth (or suffer a still birth) whilst in prison, the issues pertinent to prisoners, their management and care will be noted on their individual case record. This will include details of whether the woman is pregnant and the outcome of that pregnancy, should it occur whilst they are in custody.

We currently do not record the number of women who give birth in prisons centrally but consideration will be given on recording this information locally on prison systems.

Reticulating Splines