Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children were born in prisons in the last year.

Information relating to births and pregnancy is recorded locally, and is not collected centrally. Work is currently underway to look at what information related to pregnancy and birth can be collected centrally.

Births in prison are extremely rare. Every effort is made to ensure women are in the appropriate hospital setting in order to give birth, however this is not always possible due to the unpredictability of labour.

All pregnant women in custody have an individual care and management plan that is communicated to all staff and all pregnant women are seen by a mid-wife at least fortnightly or as required. Women can expect to have access to the same range of services as they would in the community. Healthcare in prisons is provided by trained medics and nurses, but we have also made training on dealing with pregnant women available to all prison officers.

A Prison Service Instruction sets out the current policy on Mother and Baby Units (MBUs), and the Policy Guidance adjoining the Women’s Policy Framework 2018 contains comprehensive operational guidance on perinatal support to women in custody. A review of the MBU policy is currently underway.