What Life Is Like For Children Who Are Raised In Prison

Only 8 U.S. Prisons Have Nurseries

As of 2016, there were about 112,00 women in U.S. state and federal prisons. Their crimes were largely related to drugs and stolen property. Of these women, about 1 in 25 is pregnant when they are imprisoned, but there are no statistics on how many babies are born on the inside. Of the 100 women’s prisons in the United States, only eight have nurseries. In comparison, many countries such as France and South Sudan have laws that allow incarcerated mothers to stay with their babies. One study revealed 33 percent of mothers separated from their babies return to prison. Those who keep their kids had only a 10 percent return rate.