A newborn baby will spend their first Christmas behind bars with their mother, we can reveal.
An inmate at Dublin’s Dochas Centre was due to give birth this week and will likely be back in custody before December 25.
Prisoners at the facility who give birth while in custody are allowed to nurse and have their baby with them for the first year of the child’s life. It is the only infant that will be at the Dublin jail over the festive season.
A source said: “There is likely to be one baby in the Dochas this Christmas as an inmate is due her baby any day now.
“The baby will only be a few days old and it will be important for mother and baby to bond.
“Unfortunately for all involved it’s not a nice circumstance for them to be in but it’s nice that they get to spend time together.” The level of maternity care provided to women in custody, including antenatal care, is comparable to that available to women in the community.
Inmates attend a maternity hospital and the babies receive the same care from public health nurses as that provided to a baby born outside prison.
The Dochas Centre provides a 24-hour nursing service, and has daily access to a prison doctor. Once the child reaches a year they must then leave the prison, leaving their mother behind in accordance with rules.
A spokesman for the Irish Prison Service said: “Expectant mothers are always facilitated to have their children born in hospital and no babies have been born within the confines of a prison.”
