Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Oct 19;12(1):40.
doi: 10.1186/s40352-024-00296-3.

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experiences of incarcerated pregnant people

L Noël Marsh  1 , Camille Kramer  2 , Rebecca J Shlafer  3 , Carolyn B Sufrin  4
Affiliations

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experiences of incarcerated pregnant people

L Noël Marsh et al. Health Justice. .

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacted incarcerated populations, yet few studies have investigated the specific effects on incarcerated pregnant people. This study compares pregnant people's experiences of pregnancy and parenting in prison before and during the pandemic in order to explore the impacts of COVID-19 on this population.

Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with pregnant people at a state prison as part of a larger study on pregnant people's experiences during incarceration. Interviews explored participants' experiences and decision-making related to pregnancy and parenting while incarcerated. This secondary analysis compared interviews conducted between June 2019 and March 2020 (pre-COVID-19) to interviews conducted between June and November 2020 (during COVID-19). Interviews conducted during the pandemic included questions about the impact of COVID-19 on participants' experiences. Brief three and six-month follow-up interviews were conducted when possible.

Results: COVID-19 introduced new stressors and exacerbated preexisting stressors around participants' reproductive and parenting experiences. Three major themes emerged: 1) incarceration causes mental, emotional, and physical distress during pregnancy and parenting; 2) COVID-19 worsened conditions of incarceration, contributing to participants' distress; and 3) the introduction of quarantine protocols during the pandemic felt uniquely punitive for pregnant and postpartum people.

Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic was characterized as a major crisis and primary threat to public health, particularly for incarcerated individuals. Yet just as COVID-19 exacerbated preexisting disparities for marginalized, non-incarcerated communities, incarcerated pregnant people similarly described a "worsening" of already-intolerable conditions. The indiscriminate application of quarantine protocols for pregnant people reflects broader carceral logics of control that do not account for the wellbeing of pregnant and postpartum people and their infants, as evidenced by current practices of infant separation, a lack of support, and physically taxing living conditions.

Keywords: COVID-19; Incarceration; Parenting; Pregnancy; Quarantine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

CBS serves on the Board of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care as the liaison for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. LNM, CK, and RJS declare no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. ACOG. (2021a). Committee Opinion: Reproductive Health Care for Incarcerated Pregnant, Postpartum, and Nonpregnant Individuals. Obstetrics and Gynecology,138(1), e1–e11. 10.1097/ACOG.0000000000004429 - PubMed
    1. ACOG. (2023). COVID-19 Public Health Considerations for Pregnant and Postpartum People Who Are Incarcerated. ACOG Policy and Position Statements. https://www.acog.org/clinical-information/policy-and-position-statements...
    1. Altibi, A. M., Pallavi, B., Liaqat, H., Slota, A. A., Sheth, R., Al Jebbawi, L., George, M. E., LeDuc, A., Abdallah, E., Russell, L. R., Jain, S., Shirvanian, N., Masri, A., & Kak, V. (2021). Characteristics and comparative clinical outcomes of prisoner versus non-prisoner populations hospitalized with COVID-19. Scientific Reports,11(1), 6488. 10.1038/s41598-021-85916-w - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barnert, E., Kwan, A., & Williams, B. (2021). Ten Urgent Priorities Based on Lessons Learned From More Than a Half Million Known COVID-19 Cases in US Prisons. American Journal of Public Health,111(6), 1099–1105. 10.2105/ajph.2021.306221 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bogel-Burroughs, N., & Swales, V. (2020). Prisoner with Coronavirus Dies After Giving Birth While on Ventilator. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/29/us/coronavirus-inmate-death-andrea-ci...

LinkOut - more resources