Former Inmates: Jail’s Prenatal Care Is Lacking

COURT HOUSE — Women in the Cape May County Correctional Center, subject to the consequences of court action, should still receive equal opportunity for exercise, adequate medical care — especially pregnant women — and basic human rights.
That is the message the Cape May County Advisory Commission on the Status of Women has been pushing for almost 20 years. In that time, there has been little or no change, said Kathy Bresan, commission chairperson.
Recently released from the women’s jail, Tara and Gwen, who wished to withhold their full names, met with members of the commission, representatives from the Cape Community Health Center, Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies and county Health Department on Sept. 15 to share their stories of treatment of the female inmate population.
Both women, now working full-time jobs and undergoing outpatient treatment, said they realize a number of concerns are years old, but wanted to do what they could to garner an understanding for the women inside the correctional center at Crest Haven.
“There is no procedure when dealing with a pregnant inmate,” said Tara. “When they come in, they are put into the holding cell with other inmates and it can takes days for them to get a hold of a pregnancy kit.”
Once the test is administered and the inmate is clearly pregnant, their treatment varies very little from the rest of the women.
“They don’t go for regular checkups,” said Tara. “They get an extra meal at the end of the day. It’s a lunch bag with a sandwich, a piece of fruit and milk.”
She said she recently ran into a former inmate that had been pregnant during her incar-ceration. When she inquired about the baby, she was told the pregnancy should have been considered “high risk” and the child had to be hooked up to life support.
“She told me it could have been prevented if she had gotten the proper care,” Tara said.
Every pregnant woman in the county jail should be considered a high-risk pregnancy, according to Dr. Richard Mitchner, co-director Cape Community Health Center.
“Anyone pregnant in a jail system is at high risk, just due to its nature,” he said.
Mitchner said he used to see four to five obstetrics and gynecology patients a year from the correctional center. He estimates that more recently he has seen one a year.
“There are women in there for over a year. I can’t imagine that in that time there isn’t an issue that would require regular GYN care,” said Sarah Matthews of Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies Coalition.
There is a nurse on site, the women said. However, she can only do so much, and she had to adhere to the directives of her supervisor.
The two women told their accounts of inmates who had suffered from the side effects of drug detoxification in the general population. Another woman, they said, was placed into solitary because she had been incarcerated with a cast on her ankle.
“A cast is considered a weapon,” Gwen said. “So she had to be placed away from everyone.”
“She was away from everyone for so long that she eventually broke off the cast herself one day when she was in the shower,” Tara added.
Receiving medication is also difficult, according to the former inmates.
“The only way of regularly receiving medication is if you have a preexisting condition and a prescription on file. The jail will call the pharmacy to get it filled,” said Tara. “But if your prescription is expired or expires while you are in jail, well, then you just have to hope that you’ll eventually see a doctor so he can write a new prescription.”
“And that’s not a timely procedure,” asked Matthews.
“Not at all,” responded Gwen.
Jean Crean, director of programs and services at the correctional center, said she could not answer media questions and referred all inquiries to Sheriff John Callinan. Callinan said that it was very difficult to respond to concerns of the former inmates because their claims were unspecific and dealt with alleged health issues of other prisoners.
“It lacks credibility,” he said.
Callinan said that receiving pregnant woman at the county correctional facility is “rare.” He estimated that there have been less than three cases of pregnant woman in jail in the last year.
“The last place a judge would place a pregnant woman or a seriously ill person is in jail,” he said. “But sometimes there is very little choice and they have to come to the correctional facility.”
He said when the jail receives those rare pregnant cases they are cared for by the facility’s contracted nursing staff at the on-site clinic. Two nurses, he said, are currently working at the correctional facility.
Callinan said most women leave the correctional facility before they give birth. However, if they were to give birth during their term in the jail, they would be taken to Cape Regional Medical Center for care. Callinan added taxpayers would have to foot the hospital bill if inmates gave birth while serving their jail sentences because most of the women are uninsured.
Contact Suit at: (609) 886-8600 ext. 25 or lsuit@cmcherald.com