Nascer nas prisões | gestar, nascer e cuidar

I got in a car to do a trick, but it was a stolen car. I'm 21 and it's the first time I've been arrested. This is my first pregnancy, and I'm 9 months in.

I'm 7 months and a few days pregnant. I've been in prison for 4 months. I got 5 years and 6 months, on a non-negotiable basis at first.

Birth in prison: Gestation, birth and care I was sentenced to 11 years, but I won't have to stay that long. It's my birthday today: one year and 5 months in prison, and I haven't been sentenced yet. I've been here for almost two years without even a response.

The issue of the incarceration of women, the concern for women's health, for the health of the mother and child and gestation in prison, started showing up quite recently, and I think it's associated with the issue of the rise of the prison population in Brazil. From 2000 to 2014 Brazil's prison population grew a lot, about 120%, and this incarceration rate is not just a number. If you examine it, it's the fifth highest in the world.

When it comes to prison population, Brazil has the 4th largest in the world, just behind Russia, China and the U. S. If Brazil's prison population grew by 120%, the incarceration of women would grow much more: 410% in the same period.

We went from 5 thousand incarcerated women in 2000 to 37 thousand incarcerated women in 2014. I had no one to help me, it was really tough. Sometimes you hit rock bottom and can't climb out.

It's tough. So I entered a life of drug trafficking. I spent 4 months of my life trafficking drugs, and they approached me.

And here I am. I'm going to use that lady's words: "Instead of lying down with drunk men, I chose to store drugs in my house. I thought it would be healthier and more hygienic for my children.

" More than the majority are involved with drug trafficking. Some have stolen… There are few homicides or armed robberies, which are, let's say, more serious crimes. It's not unusual to have a partner or husband involved.

I can't say they didn't know what they were taking part in. They definitely did. But their initial involvement with drug trafficking comes from a romantic relationship.

And often it is often the case that the police operation, the search warrant, etc. , is carried out at a time when the woman is in the house. And she… In that situation, she ends up being prosecuted and convicted, while the man remains free.

It's the case with nearly every woman. I'm here so he doesn't have to be. I took his place.

-Why? - Because I felt sorry for him. Because he had been shot 11 times.

He has a broken arm, and has been convulsing ever since he was shot. -So what did you do? - At the time, I felt sorry for him, I said it was mine and came here in his place.

It's very rare to see women trafficking drugs. Very rare. And they're not drug dealers, their behaviour just leads them into trafficking.

It's unheard of, even though maybe 90% are convicted of trafficking, and if you check how many women have more than 1 trafficking conviction, you'll see it's probably below 5%. The police came for him and took me too. I was arrested for smuggling drugs into prison.

I used to see a lot of girls doing it and thought it'd be easy, I'd never done it. I tried too, and… I'm here, right? It was when they raided my sister's house.

They took me, my son's father, my sister, my brother-in-law, his brother, his wife and some other guy. The first time I was innocent I got into a fight. The girl accused me of stealing, but all I did was hit her.

I went to a party with my friends, got a ride back and… The guys in the car were criminals. By the time I had realised, the cops were behind us… They started shooting and crashed the car. I got caught, they ran away and I stayed in the car.

I was 5 months pregnant when I was arrested. Pregnancy in prison "Nascer nas Prisões" - Fiocruz Research The "Nascer nas Prisões" research took place between 2012 and 2014, and included every female prison in Brazil's capital cities and metropolitan areas. This study focused mainly on pregnant women and women with babies in prison.

We discovered that 90% of the women in prison we interviewed for the research were pregnant when they were arrested. And a huge amount of them were still yet to go on trial. I've never gotten a conjugal visit request from men who wished to visit, who weren't married yet or had to straighten something out.

It's the opposite in male prisons, in which women request conjugal visits daily with their partners. Few get pregnant in the unit when receiving visitors. Some get pregnant, but not many, most come in already pregnant.

Social services have an essential role here in the unit: to protect the prisoners' rights, even though they're being punished, sanctioned, for breaking the law, these women have their rights… The only right denied to them is freedom, every other right is assured. Sometimes they're visibly pregnant, so I transfer them to the prenatal care department. When these women are arrested while pregnant, they are often taken to prison without the prison knowing about their pregnancy.

So it's very important for them to take a set of tests when they get there, including a pregnancy test, because if a pregnancy is established, they might be able to have an increased number of consultations and start prenatal care earlier. Otherwise, their pregnancy will start to show up by the fifth or sixth month, when they're much further along, with some health issues which could've been treated, avoided or reduced… I had prenatal care the first time, not the second, but again on the third. I had it when I was there, in Acaraú… Every month they'd take me to have prenatal care.

I now realise how important prenatal care is, how important it is for the child. Otherwise the child can have birth defects, I know because one of mine had defects. He had toxoplasmosis and syphilis and had to stay there for 11 days.

They think prenatal care is bad. So these women end up developing HIV and syphili s even more often than other women who we also interviewed, who had prenatal care in the health care system and participated in the "Nascer no Brasil" research. Women outside prison.

I'm taking all the tests during my pregnancy… It's even better than outside, where I did drugs and didn't have the right care for my pregnancy. I'd been without crack for just a week. I did crack for all 9 months.

I saw a woman in triage while you were calling me, a pregnant woman… She says she's about 3 months pregnant. I requested an ultrasound. She had a baby a year and 3 months ago, she's HIV positive and she's only had antiretrovirals during her time here in prison, while pregnant with her first baby.

Now… She's been a year and 3 months without antiretrovirals, she's pregnant again, and she's just arrived claiming she needs medicine. But while she was outside she didn't care. She left here taking controlled drugs, looking good, looking healthy.

But she has psychiatric issues. She's often in a state of drug addiction, and today I heard she's back and she's just skin and bones, looking awful. I didn't actually see her.

So… We feel powerless, just a little bit… But you rebuild and rebuild them, give them back, and they come back again. In the prison system people usually say that pregnant women, when they go to prison, haven't had prenatal care or anything, and they've been using drugs, not taking care of themselves. To say that is, in a way, to blame the women for their health being as it is, as if prison saved them somehow.

But what we need to think about the most is: Who are these women? What social group do they belong to? What is their life situation?

Do they have access to health care? Do they have access to educational and welfare systems? Do they have access to the job market?

Who are these people? When we ignore these questions and place all the responsibility on a woman, what we're saying is that prison saves their lives. But does prison save their lives?

How did prison take on that role? I feel a correctional facility ends up being seen as a place where people can be cared for. Where they can be heard, sheltered… Often the first time society actually looks at them is when they get here, which shouldn't be the case.

They go through the judge, the social worker, the psychologist, the nurse… We can even put it to question: but if there are so many people, such high demand… Why don't people realise it outside? How does the state deal with this social group? Instead of public policies to guarantee them their rights, instead of public policies to increase access, the state's policy is to penalise, to imprison.

It imprisons this social group because it can't answer the questions regarding this group. Actually, it's not that the group lacks public policies, but that it's targeted by a punishment policy, it's different. If we don't realise that and only see individual aspects, we're blaming these women for not taking care of themselves.

That care is not an individual action isolated from its context. It exists within a much broader context. Childbirth without freedom It's too shameful for us.

Do they need to take us in handcuffs? There's no need, there are guards. Just take us without handcuffs… So that people don't look at us differently.

They don't know what we have or haven't done. Those people don't know why we're in prison. With chains on my feet… If there are guards, it's unnecessary.

I don't need to be handcuffed. The way I see it, nobody's going to run away. They handcuff us at night, when they want to get some rest, and during the day… We need to ask for help all the time, we can't even move or sit on the bed with those chains.

When we get to the hospital and the appointment starts we take their handcuffs off for the entire procedure… But we stay with them… They don't wear handcuffs, but a prison guard stays with them at all times. We even stay with them during childbirth. I've witnessed a C-section myself, many years ago, as well as an ordinary birth.

A guard stays with them at all times. After the baby is born, the mother, the baby and two prison guards stay in the room. During the pregnancy stage, generally speaking, we understand how cumbersome it is to wear handcuffs at any step of the way, from the arrest to the rest of the process, and it wouldn't even contradict the recommendations given by the Supreme Court and all the recommendations given by the UN when it comes to ensuring the rights of the detainees.

In 2016 there was a decree to regulate the use of handcuffs, which is now strictly prohibited for women during childbirth and postpartum. All the way from transportation to hospitalisation, handcuffs, chains or anything similar may not be used. That entire legislative process to ensure them their rights is terribly distant from what actually happens.

We have laws to protect the rights of women and their children, but in reality, they're not enforced. Hence the importance of research. Research gives us data about something we already know, but now are able to substantiate.

When a woman goes into labour we call an ambulance, and she doesn't wear handcuffs. She's actually treated like a mother about to give birth. In that case, she's not seen as a prisoner, and she's taken care of as a mother about to give birth.

Without handcuffs. No, I didn't wear handcuffs here because my water had already broke. I didn't wear them in the hospital either.

I wanted to take the handcuffs off, but they said I couldn't because I was a prisoner. The judge put me in handcuffs but took them off less than 2h later. The on-duty guard told me: "I'm supposed to handcuff you.

" The social worker came in and I told her he was handcuffing me, and she said "there's no need". She spoke to him and he took the handcuffs off. When I had her, I was treated very differently.

Some people looked at me differently… The nurses… One nurse wanted me to stay in handcuffs, and asked if I was dangerous… But the guards are nice people, and they say: "Do your job and I'll do mine. Take care of the children, I'll take care of her. " They have the right to be treated just like anyone else.

Except for a family member during childbirth, it's just the guard, for safety reasons. I couldn't be with the other mothers at the hospital. It was just me and the guard who escorted me.

It's very different, you're in prison, without your family or anything, just with the police and guards. You're in pain, and the guard has to follow you around. Even during childbirth, the police are right there.

It's different from having a baby at home, with your family. I think it's about the moment of childbirth, it's our unique moment, which we want to remember forever, and we do remember it forever. It would be great to be able to share it with someone we care about, from our family.

You know? My mother… She won't be able to see her first grandson. She won't be able to be with me, hold my hand and give me strength.

And I think… Why does it matter whether I'm a prisoner or not for my mother to be there? What's the difference if she's there or not? What does the prison lose in the process?

What? Do they think I'll run away? No, that doesn't happen.

Why can't they allow it? Allow me to have my mother with me in such a unique moment? But they get to the maternity ward and the family isn't notified.

These women aren't allowed to have other people there… A birth partner of choice is guaranteed by law in Brazil. All women have that right, it's a law, assured and available for everyone. But these women were denied this right as well.

They were alone and didn't get visits from family members. They were discriminated against, isolated in a separate room in the maternity ward. All they had was a guard at their door, as if they were… high-risk prisoners, which is not the case with these women.

In almost all cases, they committed misdemeanours, but are treated as high-risk prisoners. They're ashamed when they see all the other women being scared of them. Health professionals also feel uncomfortable treating these women.

This contributed to their evaluation on the quality of care, which was very negative. They were also discriminated against for another reason: the use of handcuffs, which happened to a third of these new mothers. I didn't see anyone else there, that room was just for prisoners.

In the hospital… there are two rooms just for prisoners. She even helped… the other mother up, she really helped her. But to me, she said: "How many children do you have?

" I said "2", and she replied: "So you know your stuff. " "You won't scream, will you? " I said: "No, I won't scream.

" And they left me alone in the room… I told them the baby was coming, and they had me handcuffed. Who had you handcuffed? The nurse?

She said I was "being a pain. " "Handcuff her, she's being a pain. " But the baby's head was already out.

Do they use handcuffs and leg cuffs? There are chains and… Right? Then she said: "Just leave her by herself.

" And they left me alone, except for the two guards at the door. They escorted me. He thought he could say anything just because I was a prisoner.

You should be human, you know? Above all else. It's so important to be humble and respectful… You can be a prisoner, a poor or rich person, but above all else, you are still human.

To put yourself in your place and in other people's shoes. It's very hard to accommodate for a prisoner, people in general actually prefer it if prisoners die: "Let them rot in jail forever. " They forget that prisoners are just spending time there.

They'll soon be free, and it's up to us whether they come back better or worse. There's a lack of information, of seminars… To target health professionals, so they understand how to accommodate for a prisoner, that he or she deserves to be treated well. All they lack is the freedom to come and go, not other rights.

The women stay in the unit until it's time to give birth, and are then taken to a hospital. We work with the Rede Cegonha service of the Ministry of Health, but it's hard to raise awareness among hospital workers, so that they accommodate for the pregnant women and give them the same rights free women have. We must work carefully on raising awareness to ensure them their rights.