July 29th 2023.
Rianna Cleary was just 18 when she experienced her first pregnancy and was in HMP Bronzefield jail. On the evening of September 26th, 2019, she began to experience intense pain and made two panicked calls to prison staff for assistance. Unfortunately, these calls were left unanswered and a prison officer even walked past her cell with a torch during her labour without offering any help.
Rianna eventually gave birth to her child, Aisha, alone in her cell. She had to cut the umbilical cord with her teeth as she had no medical assistance. Sadly, Aisha was pronounced dead at 9.03am that morning due to brain injuries.
The coroner concluded that opportunities were missed to ensure Rianna did not give birth alone in her cell and that St Peter’s Hospital and the prison had not done enough to make a plan to transfer her to hospital quickly. It was also found that the prison had not adequately monitored Rianna, supported her and responded to her calls for help during labour.
After the inquest, Rianna released a statement in which she expressed her sadness that Aisha may have survived if she had been given the necessary assistance. Campaigners have argued that pregnant women should not be housed in prisons and a number of countries, including Brazil, Ukraine and Mexico, have implemented restrictions on the incarceration of pregnant women.
Prisons Minister Damian Hinds said that the Government have since made improvements to the care received by pregnant women, including specialist mother and baby staff in every women’s prison, extra welfare checks and better health and antenatal support. However, despite these improvements, it is clear that more needs to be done to protect vulnerable people such as Rianna who are facing pregnancy in prison.
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