Reply #11: Thanks, I missed that one. Here's an Amnisty International report

[Viva_La_Revolution]

from 1999

"Giving birth while incarcerated was one of the most horrifying experiences of my life. While enduring intense labour pains, I was handcuffed while being taken to the hospital, even though I was in a secured vehicle with a metal grating between the driver's and passenger's compartments and with no interior door handles on the passenger doors. With the handcuffs on, I could not even hold my stomach to get some comfort from the pain...At the hospital I was shackled to a metal bed post by my right ankle throughout seven hours of labour, although a correctional officer was in the room with me at all times. The shackles were not removed until 30 minutes prior to my delivery...Imagine being shackled to a metal bedpost, excruciating pains going through my body, and not being able to adjust myself to even try to feel any type of comfort, trying to move and with each turn having hard, cold metal restraining my movements. Not only was this painful, it was traumatizing, and very stressful for myself and also for my child...Even animals would not be shackled during labour, a household dog or a cow on a farm..The birth of a child is supposed to be a joyous experience, and I was robbed of the joy of my daughter's birth..Is it really necessary to handcuff and shackle mothers who are in labour? With all the other security measures that were in place, and with my minimum security status, did they really have to put me and my infant through that torture?"
Statement of Warnice Robinson, imprisoned in Illinois for shoplifting

http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/women/report5.html