Date of Conferral
5-22-2024
Date of Award
5-22-2024
Degree
Ph.D.
School
Human Services
Advisor
Douglas McCoy
Abstract
Previously Incarcerated Women’s Emotional Experience of Giving Birth in a U.S. Prison by Brigit Ichard-Henderson MA, Walden University, 2018 MA, Texas A&M University-Central Texas, 2014 BS, Excelsior University, 2009 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Human Services Walden University May 2024 Women have been giving birth while incarcerated since the advent of confinement as a punishment for crime. There is a plethora of information on incarceration rates, pathways to incarceration, access to health care and education while incarcerated, and reasons for recidivism among women. However, little is known about women’s experiences of giving birth while incarcerated. This study aimed to explore female inmates’ experiences of the emotions they felt and recalled at the time of arrest and their interactions with other inmates, health care providers, correctional officers, and their outside support group. Qualitative narrative analysis was used to interpret the data from 15 participants who were previously incarcerated women, 18 years of age and older, who had given birth in US prisons. In semistructured interviews conducted via videoconferencing, participants were asked to recall the emotions they felt during their pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Feminist theory and feminist criminology served as the theoretical frameworks for the study. The eight themes and ten subthemes that emerged showcased participants’ memories of felt emotions such as depression and anxiety. Recommendations include further research on the study topic and related topics such as prenatal health care, nutrition, and education for pregnant incarcerated women in the United States. The study’s findings could promote positive social change by informing human services professionals of the need to create a positive, humane, and dignified birth experience for pregnant incarcerated women in the United States.
Recommended Citation
Ichard-Henderson, Brigit, "Previously Incacerated Women's Emotional Experince of Giving Birth in a U.S. Prison" (2024). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 15819.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/15819
