Female Incarceration Rate

As we all know by now, the incarceration rate has been increasing and prisons are dealing with over-crowding. This article written by Mertens goes into depth about their concerns and what needs to be addressed involving pregnant inmates. Even the female inmate rate has been increasing. The most shocking statistic is The National Women’s Law Center report stating that 10 percent of the female inmates are pregnant and 15 percent developed postpartum depression. According to the article, health is a major concern in which infectious diseases may spread or cause other issues with the female’s health. Sometimes they may not even know she is pregnant while imprisoned. Many, studies claim that a several amount of women that are pregnant in prison are diagnosed with cervical dysplasia. That is why early testing/detection is essential in treating cervical dysplasia and that female inmate’s should be examined regularly, before and during pregnancy. In addition, it is important to examine for other problems, since prostitution or drug abuse can lead to other infections or diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B or Chlamydia trachamatis. According to the article, testing is not regularly offered. Female inmates even missed prenatal appointments that were scheduled because of specific polices conducted by Corrections such as the periodic head counts. Pregnant women need to be check regularly or the health of themselves or their child may be affected. The article then goes into multiple studies of pregnant women, …show more content…
The child is most likely going to a foster home and sometimes they are often convinced to send their child to adoption clinics. The article even mentions that contraceptive services are not satisfactory and education associating with health is insufficient. In order to improve, diets and medical care needs to be better (Mertens,