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Female inmates at the Nova Institution for Women in Truro no longer have access to doula services, and the doulas don’t know why.
“We’re available, but since the new warden took over in June we haven’t been allowed to meet with anyone,” says Martha Paynter, a coordinator with the volunteer group Women’s Wellness Within (WWW) who were offering pregnancy and postpartum support services to several inmates at the corrections facility since last October.
According to Paynter, there have been four women at the prison who were pregnant or had babies since June who haven’t been offered any doula support.
“We’ve been feeling terrified for these women and their babies,” she says. “These women, almost always, the majority have severe mental health issues…the majority have histories of sexual and physical abuse…to go through birth and breastfeeding without support is very traumatizing.”
Women’s Wellness Within is a partnership between IWK midwives and volunteer doulas, the Elizabeth Fry Societies of Cape Breton and mainland Nova Scotia, the Chebucto Family Centre and the Halifax branch of the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund. The group has provided volunteer doula services for female inmates over the last year at Nova, and since 2014 at the Central Nova Correctional Facility in Burnside.
Those services include everything from pre-natal education (such as the basics of breastfeeding and how to hold a baby), to support during labour and postpartum follow-ups. According to a press release WWW sent out on Monday, the program was provided at no cost to Correctional Service Canada. The organization says that so far, no reason has been given as to why inmates are being denied access to volunteer health workers.
“No justification was given. Services were cut without notice,” reads the release. “Nova is denying these women the support of trained, cleared volunteers.”
Paynter says phone calls and emails to the new warden have gone unreturned. She isn’t sure why WWW is being stonewalled, but speculates it’s because the group has asked to formalize its relationship with the Nova Institution via written agreement. Having something down on paper—like WWW has with the prison in Burnside—is an important step in applying for grants to keep the doula program operational, says Paynter.
“Just to apply for funding we need to have a written agreement that this exists.”
Correctional Service Canada spokesperson Shelley Lawrence wasn’t able to get back to The Coast before publication with any details about the doula program at the Nova Institution, or Paynter’s concerns. A message left with the warden’s assistant was also unreturned. We’ll update the post if we hear back from them.
The Nova Institution for Women in Truro is one of five multi-level security corrections facilities for women across Canada.
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This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2016.
Pretty sure the inmates will have access to pre- and post-natal cate, just not by the doulas. No question they are helpful but replicate services that can be carried out by medical services in the prison. This is about spending wisely and cutting the replication of service. In other words, it’s not an issue.
@methinksyhz, it may be valuable for you to give the article another read. The services of the Doula through WWW are provided at no cost to the inmate or the institution. Also, the type of care that a Doula provides would not be duplicated by medical staff and is, in fact, complementary to it. Doulas provide educational, physical and emotional support through the childbearing period. Women who are not behind bars greatly benefit from the support a Doula provides but for incarcerated women, this kind of support can make a world of difference in their lives and that of their babies.
I stand corrected on the cost issue. The argument they will have pre- and post-natal series is one that can’t be argued. Doulas are not a standard anywhere and therefore not necessary.
I am going to argue the no cost point. Do the doulas organize when they are coming/going, who they will see and provide their own security? I highly doubt it. As for the service itself, it seems like a nice perk but not necessary. Plenty of non criminal mothers get by without a doula.
These women don’t get the support they would otherwise get from friends and family necessitating doulas.
Women who are not in a correctional facility have access to a number of pre and post natal services that I doubt are available to those in a correctional facility. If the service is free let them have it. It benefits both the mothers and their babies and maybe even helps them to become better people in the long run.