Prison nursery

A prison nursery is a section of a prison that houses incarcerated mothers and their child. Prison nurseries are not common in correctional facilities in the United States today, although prior to the 1950s many states had them and they are widespread throughout the rest of world.

Nurseries inside the United States

As of November 2006, four states have prison nurseries in the United States: New York, Nebraska, Washington and Ohio.

Bedford Hills, a maximum security women’s prison in New York, was the only prison nursery that remained open throughout the 20th century. A child is permitted to stay at Bedford Hills with its mother until 1 year of age; however, there are possible exceptions if the mother’s release date is within the next 6 months. Mothers at Bedford Hills must also participate in parental classes taught by qualified inmates.

In 1994 the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women opened their prison nursery. An infant is allowed to reside with the mother in prison if the mother’s release date is before the child turns 18 months. Childbirth and parenting classes are mandatory before and after the birth of an incarcerated inmate’s child.

The nursery at Washington Corrections Center for Women, which opened in 1999, differs from the prison nurseries in New York, Nebraska and Ohio because it is not limited to non-violent offenders. Any inmate who is serving a sentence less than 3 years after her child is born may keep her child with her in the nursery until the child is 18 months old. At this point the mother and child move to a pre-release center for the next 18 months. Mothers at the Washington Corrections Center for Women can choose to have a caregiver who looks after the infant while the mother is at work.

Ohio State Reformatory (ORW) nursery opened in April 2001. It can hold up to 20 inmates and their infants up to 18 months old. Every mother has a nanny who, like the mother, is an inmate who has taken parental classes and is serving time for a non-violent offense. The nanny is a volunteer inmate who is available at any time to care for a mother’s child when the mother has made a prior commitment.

Preungesheim

Preungesheim, a maximum-security women’s prison in Frankfurt, Germany, has one of the best known programs for incarcerated mothers and their children. Mothers who are on high-security and must stay on prison grounds are able to keep their children until they are 3 years old. They live in a “closed mother-child house” that is a separate enclosed building on the prison grounds. During the day, children attend preschool while their mothers are at work. Those mothers who are not a high-security risk live in an “open mother-child house” with their children. An open mother-child house opens to the nearby neighborhood, instead of opening to the prison - distinctly setting an open mother-child house apart from a closed mother-child house. Children are allowed to play in the nearby playground during the day while their mothers are at work.

If a mother is permitted work-release, and has a school-aged child living in Frankfurt, she spends the day at home taking care of her family but sleeps at the prison at night. A work-release mother is allowed to take her child(ren) to school and doctors appointments and grocery shop during the day. After she prepares dinner, she tucks her child into bed and departs back to the prison to sleep, leaving her child in the hands of a caretaker.

Arguments in favor of prison nurseries

The states that have taken to incorporating prison nurseries within their correctional systems have done so in recognition of the "critical bond" formed between mother and child within the first two years of life. Prison officials in New York, Nebraska, Washington and Ohio believe that the first two years are a crucial time period for the mother and her infant. Most facilities allow the infant to reside with her mother until he/she is 18 months old because experiments have shown that the child will remember the connection formed with their mother, but will not remember the atmosphere in which it was formed.