FOUR WOMEN HAVE BABIES IN JAIL
New arrivals on the rise for mums in Mountjoy Prison
FOUR babies were born last year to mothers serving time in prison, it was revealed yesterday.
The new arrivals at Dublin’s Mountjoy are a rise on the jail’s three infants in 2016 and none the previous year.
An Irish Prison Service spokesman said there is a “considerable level of support available for mums and babies in the Dochas Centre”.
Tots can stay with their mother until they are 12 months old.
THE number of babies born to women in Mountjoy jail is the highest in recent years.
The arrival of four infants in 2017 has kept authorities busy providing nappies and baby food to the newborns at Dublin’s Dochas Centre.
An Irish Prison Service spokesman said: “Provisions are made to facilitate new mothers keeping their infants with them in custody so as not to disrupt early bonding.
“Each mother and child are provided with their own single room with en-suite facilities in the mother and baby unit on their return to the Dochas Centre after giving birth.
“Required items such as a cot, baby food, nappies etc are also provided.” The rise in infants at Mountjoy in Dublin followed three new arrivals in 2016 and no births in 2015.
In total, 17 babies have been born to mothers in custody between 2010 and the end of last year. The latest figures were provided to Clare Daly TD by Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan.
Under Irish law, inmates are not allowed conjugal visits. Married prisoners have the right to communicate with their spouse but not in private. The level of baby services provided to jailed mums, including ante-natal care, is comparable to that available to women in the community.
Mothers in custody attend a maternity hospital and the babies are visited by public health nurses.
The Dochas Centre provides a 24-hour nursing service and has daily access to a prison doctor. Once each child spends a year at the mother and baby unit, they must then move out of the jail leaving their mother behind. In the UK the period is 18 months.
A recent report by the Dochas Visiting Committee stated: “The unit dedicated to the use of mothers and their babies is bright, warm, well ventilated and nicely decorated. It is well stocked.”
The centre can house 105 inmates and is the only one of its kind in Ireland.
An Irish Prison Service spokesman said “procedures are in place to ensure the baby handover is done in as sensitive and as painless a manner as possible”.
He added: “Case conferences are arranged to include the mother, child’s carer and if appropriate the father.
“Arrangements are made for the child to spend time with the carer in advance. Arrangements are also made for the child to return to the mother.”