000			06185nam a22004337a 4500
999			_c8363 _d8363
005			20250625151646.0
008			231012s2023 -nz|| |||| 00| 0 eng d
040			_aAFVC
245			_aMothers and babies : _bprison management of pregnant women and mothers with babies _cOffice of the Inspectorate
260			_aWellington, New Zealand : _bOffice of the Inspectorate, Department of Corrections, _c2023
300			_aelectronic document (92 pages) ; PDF file
500			_aPublished August 2023, released September 2023
520			_aThis thematic inspection was commissioned to review how pregnant women and those with children under 24 months are managed in New Zealand’s three women’s prisons. It is the first time the Inspectorate has reviewed the three Mothers with Babies units as a specific area of focus. Inspectorate report examines women in prison who have young children The Office of the Inspectorate | Te Tari Tirohia has released a report into how pregnant women and those with children under 24 months are managed in New Zealand’s three women’s prisons. “I commissioned this thematic inspection to review the operating environment in the Mothers with Babies units in the three women’s prisons,” said Chief Inspector Janis Adair. It is the first time the Inspectorate has reviewed the three Mothers with Babies units as a specific area of focus. “It was also essential to examine the management of pregnant women in prison, those in prison with a child in the community, and opportunities for mothers with children in the community to maintain supportive parental relationships.” Ms Adair was pleased to note that the women’s prisons provided comfortable environments for mothers to care for their young children, both for children who live in prison with their mother and for those who visit. Children under 24 months can live with their mother in Mothers with Babies Units at all women’s prisons, while children who live in the community can visit their mother at dedicated feeding and bonding facilities. “The facilities are welcoming but they appear to be underused, partly because of the limited information collected by Corrections about women and their children, when women are received into prison,” said Ms Adair. “More could be done to fulfil the potential of both the Mothers with Babies units and the feeding and bonding facilities, to ensure that children with mothers in prison can develop and maintain attachments with all family and whānau members.” The report found that generally pregnant women in prison receive the same standard of maternity care as they would in the community, and in some cases are seen more often by their midwife. Many pregnant women in prison had drug and alcohol issues, but limited support was offered to address this. The report makes seven overarching recommendations, to improve the management of women in prison who have young children, along with 44 areas for Corrections to consider. The following are the recommendations: Corrections must develop a Practice Centre* setting out guidance for the management of women who reside in a Mothers with Babies unit, are pregnant or who have children in the community under 24 months, from when they arrive at prison through to when they are released. Corrections must ensure better collection of information about women who arrive at site with children under 24 months in the community, having regard to the privacy interests of the children. Corrections must better support women to maintain relationships with their children in the community, including both in-person visits and telephone and video calls. Corrections must better support, including through welfare checks, women who return to prison from hospital having miscarried, terminated a pregnancy or who have given birth where the child remains in the community. Corrections must develop criteria for selecting those staff most suitable for working in the Mothers with Babies unit, and appropriate training package for staff in the unit, and ensure that all staff who work in the unit have completed this and ongoing training. Corrections must develop and implement an assurance framework to ensure its policies for pregnant women and women with children under 24 months are being consistently applied across all three women’s sites. Corrections must consider how comparable overseas jurisdictions manage visits for children, and consider the report of the Ministerial Committee of Inquiry into the Prison System, Te Ara Hou: the New Way, including the recommendation for visiting centres for children up to the age of five, and that assistance with transport and accommodation be provided across the entire prison network. (From the media release). Record #8363
610		0	_98738 _aAra Poutama Aotearoa | Department of Corrections
610		0	_2Office of the Inspectorate - Te Tari Tirohia
650		4	_aABORTION _92900
650		4	_aCHILDREN OF PRISONERS _92860
650		4	_aHEALTH _9283
650			_aINFANTS _9313
650			_aJUSTICE _9333
650			_aMENTAL HEALTH _9377
650			_aMISCARRIAGE _92901
650			_aMOTHERS _9392
650			_aPREGNANCY _9455
650		4	_9460 _aPRISONERS
650		4	_aREPRODUCTIVE HEALTH _93274
650		4	_aSUBSTANCE ABUSE _9584
650		4	_aTRAUMA _9612
650			_aWOMEN _9645
650			_aWOMEN PRISONERS _910607
650			_aYOUNG WOMEN _9661
651		4	_aNEW ZEALAND _92588
710			_aOffice of the Inspectorate - Te Tari Tirohia _910374
830			_aThematic report _912307
856			_uhttps://inspectorate.corrections.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/50487/FINAL_Inspectorate_thematic_report_-_Mothers_and_Babies.pdf
856			_uhttps://inspectorate.corrections.govt.nz/news/news_items/inspectorate_report_examines_women_in_prison_who_have_young_children _zOffice of the Inspectorate media release
856			_uhttps://www.corrections.govt.nz/news/2023/mothers_with_babies_units_providing_warm_and_supportive_environments _yAra Poutama Aotearoa | Department of Corrections response
942			_2ddc _cREPORT _hnews123