31 year old Ms Powell was sentenced to eight months in March 2020 after admitting common assault, racially-aggravated harassment and criminal damage. On her first day at HMP Styal she said there was “no chance“ she could be pregnant. But at about 17:00 BST on 18 June 2020 she went into labour, feeling “extreme pain”. She says her cellmate had made staff aware that she was bleeding, had severe cramps, and had not had a period in several months. The prison officer that was told said she looked about 6 months pregnant, but Ms Powell said she still didn’t have a clue and felt like she was dying. The prison officer contacted the on-site health care team, raising concerns about the pregnancy but it is thought no medical professional went to see Ms Powell. At about 21:00 BST Ms Powell’s cellmate pressed the emergency bell as the baby’s legs came out. It was at this point that a prison nurse arrived and helped in the delivery of the baby.
Unfortunately after having been told she had a baby girl, it became apparent to Ms Powell that her daughter wasn’t ok. It is understood that staff attempted to call for an ambulance but this wasn’t successful due to the prison radio system failing. Ms Powell reports that staff did not try to resuscitate her baby and the ambulance arrived too late to be able to help.
Whilst it is clear that the causes of this incident are multifactorial, it calls into question what policies need to be put in place to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Healthcare in prisons is clearly lacking the quality that is offered to those who aren’t incarcerated, and you have to ask yourself; would this incident have happened had Ms Powell not been imprisoned? Would she instead have received the healthcare she needed? Would her child still be alive today?
Prison is the punishment for her crime. Losing her baby due to insufficient healthcare should not have been an additional punishment. That loss she experienced is unjust and a failure of our criminal justice system.