Stop Violence Against Women
Use of Restraints on Pregnant Women in the USA
- Policy Guidelines
For all persons in custody, international standards stipulate that jails and prisons should use restraints only when restraints are required as a precaution against escape or to prevent an inmate from injuring him or herself or other people or damaging property. In every case, due regard must be given to an inmate's individual history.
Routine use of restraints on pregnant women is cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, and given medical and other factors impeding pregnant or birthing women from attempting escape or becoming violent, the presumption must be that no restraints should be applied. Women's privacy and dignity must be respected during all doctor's visits and during labor and birth.
All Departments of Corrections should have an explicit policy dealing with the use of restraints on pregnant women. The following principles should be incorporated into such a policy:
- Leg irons, shackles, belly chains or handcuffs behind the body may not be used at any time during pregnancy.
- For pregnant women in the third trimester no restraints may be applied, including during transportation.
- Under no circumstances may restraints of any kind may be used on a woman in labor or while she is giving birth.
- A female correctional officer should accompany the woman during transport to the hospital for prenatal checkups as well as for the delivery itself, and should remain immediately outside the room during checkups, and a woman's labor and delivery, unless the woman wishes otherwise. The officer should be trained to be sensitive to the medical and emotional issues of pregnancy and childbirth
- No restraints should be applied while a woman remains in the hospital during recovery, and all efforts should be made to afford the mother reasonable access to the baby without having impeding her movements by restraints.
- Restraints should not be applied during transportation back to the detention facility.
Please note: These principles may only be deviated from in the rare instance where there are serious and imminent grounds to believe that a woman may attempt to harm herself or others or presents a credible risk of escape that cannot be contained through other methods. In this case, soft handcuffs used in front of the body may be applied IF a nurse or doctor is consulted for approval, AND the superintendent of the facility approves the use of such restraints.
