Keep us busy with babies and we’ve no time for crime | Torsten Bell

Offending rates among women and men plunge as soon as they’ve got a child on the way

Unless you’re in a mafia clan, we all want to see crime come down. But different people approach that in different ways. Economists like to think of criminals as getting out their calculators to see if crime pays, so they focus on the impact of deterrence: increasing the severity of punishment or the likelihood of being caught.

Unfortunately, deterrence doesn’t do a great job because criminals don’t care enough about the future to pay much attention to jail terms. And of course everyone knows that reducing crime goes beyond more police or prisons – it’s about people’s roles in society.

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The Guardian view on prisons and mothers: an injustice | Editorial

The shameful treatment of pregnant inmates and of the children of jailed women must be addressed. No babies should be born behind bars

Shock and outrage was the widespread reaction to the death of a newborn baby girl at Bronzefield prison in Surrey in September, after her mother (neither have been named) gave birth alone in her cell at night. How could a such a thing have happened in the UK in 2019? Eleven inquiries were launched. A justice minister, Lord Keen, declared the incident “distressing” and “rare”.

So it was extraordinarily disturbing to learn, through a Guardian investigation, that far from being an isolated incident, this baby’s death followed the birth of another child in a cell at the same, privately-run prison earlier this year, and a series of other incidents in which women who went into labour were transferred to hospital late. Bronzefield is the largest women’s prison in Europe, but the questions raised relate to other institutions too.

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Pushed to the limit: six birth stories from around the world

From pop songs to warm pools, Candice Pires hears six very different accounts of women’s experience in labour

My mum fainted with excitement the day I gave birth. I came home from hospital to find her and my dad waiting outside our flat and, as I got out of the car and they embraced me, she collapsed into our group hug. That’s the story most of my friends and family know about my birth experience. It’s sweet, it’s censored, it deflects from the stitches, the rollercoaster emotions, the stuff that’s harder for everyone to say or to hear. Our birth stories get lost when our newborns are put into our arms. There’s no time to look back as we hurtle headfirst into caregiving. But birth is a miracle, right? Another person grows inside you and then gets out of your body and lives its own life. It is objectively, painfully, hilariously awe-inspiring. As traumatic as it is hopeful. And interesting, too. So why don’t we make more room to talk about it? And why is discussion of the topic generally confined to women who are about to give birth or have recently done so? As part of an ongoing project, I spoke to women around the world to hear different stories that were also in many ways universal. Here are six of them…

She was born to Tears Dry on Their Own by Amy Winehouse

The hospital gave us his hand and footprints

I didn’t want my child taken from me again so we left

I focus on my time at the birth centre as it’s such a positive memory

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Revealed: concerns over string of incidents at UK prison where baby died

At least four prisoners at HMP Bronzefield have given birth in potentially unsafe circumstances since 2017

• Pregnant in prison: ‘I could feel the blood but didn’t put the light on to see’

The death of a newborn baby girl in a cell at HMP Bronzefield in September came after a string of concerning incidents involving pregnant women at the prison in the past two years, the Guardian has learned.

On at least four occasions in this period, women held at the privately run Surrey prison have given birth in distressing and potentially unsafe circumstances, including one woman who gave birth in her cell and another who was left in labour at night-time supported only by another pregnant prisoner.

Related: Pregnant in prison: 'I could feel the blood but didn’t put the light on to see'

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Pregnant in prison: 'I could feel the blood but didn’t put the light on to see'

Polly cried for help when she began bleeding heavily in her cell, but no one answered

• HMP Bronzefield: baby death casts light on string of incidents

Polly was alone in her cell at night when she started bleeding heavily. Doubled over in pain, she rang her bell over and over again, but nobody answered her cries for help. She was four months’ pregnant and terrified she would lose her baby while locked in a cell.

“I tried to sit it out in my cell, all night nearly,” she says. “I got no sleep at all, the pain was awful and I knew without looking the bleeding was worse, I could feel it but I didn’t put the light on to see. I was terrified, I thought: ‘I’m going to lose this baby here in this bloody cell.’

Related: HMP Bronzefield baby death casts light on string of incidents

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Bare-faced cheek about nude over 50s | Brief letters

Nude scenes | Food banks | Induced labour | Theft | Pronunciation

I’m guessing Stuart Heritage is under 50 to write such a cringe-worthy piece about restricting nude scenes to the over-50s (Shortcuts, G2, 21 November). He even has the bare-faced cheek (get it?) to suggest “If only the middle-aged could do nude scenes, you could absolutely guarantee that those scenes would be vital to the script.” Yes, young actors need to be protected from the pressure to go naked, but really!
Jane Poyner
Bath

• Adrian Chiles is right – it’s best to ask what is needed by food banks (G2, 21 November). Also, don’t just think food but remember toiletries, toilet paper, tissues, sanitary towels, disposable nappies, cleaning products and, yes, seasonal treats. And while you’re at it, write to relevant ministers and your MP to remind them of this national scandal.
Val Harrison
Birmingham

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Induction recommended for women still pregnant at 41 weeks

Swedish study shows that induction of labour at or beyond term gestation is safer for babies

Inducing birth for women whose pregnancy lasts to 41 weeks could reduce the death toll from stillbirths, say experts, following publication of the results of an important trial in which six babies died after spending longer in the womb.

The results of the trial in Sweden, revealed last month in the Guardian, may change practice around the world. They confirm what experience and smaller studies have suggested – that there is a small increased risk of stillbirth for babies after 41 weeks’ gestation. The trial was stopped early after five babies of women who were more than 41 weeks’ pregnant were stillborn and one died shortly after birth.

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A Glasgow tram ride gets the waters flowing | Brief letters

Pregnancy | Proxy votes | Charlotte Brontë | Tory ‘factcheck’ | Prince Andrew

Like Suzanne Moore (G2, 19 November), I too was threatened with induction. Fifty years ago, on maternity leave from my work as a midwife, I was a week overdue with my first baby. I met a woman I had previously cared for, who said that castor oil and orange juice would do the trick. My big baby Gavin was born four hours later. Of course, in Scotland the other advice was for the expectant mother to go for a ride on the top deck of a Glasgow tram-car.
Rose Harvie
Dumbarton

• I agree with Harry Scott on proxy votes (Letters, 20 November). In 2011 my wife and I were on holiday during the referendum on AV. We applied for postal votes and pestered the local authority for ballot papers before we left. The papers duly arrived – after we had got back. Bureaucratic or postal delay deprived us of our votes. So a proxy vote is preferable – assuming you can trust your proxy voter, of course!
Tom Rees
Thames Ditton, Surrey

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Leaked report exposes maternity scandal at Shropshire NHS trust

Report describes ‘toxic’ culture at hospital trust where at least 42 babies have died avoidably

At least 42 babies and three mothers may have died unnecessarily and more than 50 newborns suffered avoidable brain damage at a hospital trust, in what is believed to be the worst maternity scandal in NHS history.

A leaked status update on a review of clinical malpractice in the maternity service of Shrewsbury and Telford hospital NHS trust raised concerns about the high number of deaths and injuries there.

Babies left brain-damaged because staff failed to realise or act upon signs that labour was going wrong.

Inadequate monitoring of heart rates during labour and poor risk assessment during pregnancy, resulting in the deaths of some children.

Babies left brain-damaged from group B strep or meningitis, which can often be treated by antibiotics.

A baby whose death from group B strep could have been prevented after the parents contacted the trust on several occasions with their concerns.

Many families struggling to get answers from the trust around “very serious clinical incidents”, continuing to the present day.

A family being told they would have to leave if they did not “keep the noise down” when they were upset after the death of their baby.

Bereaved families routinely being advised “they were the only family” and that “lessons would be learned”. The report said: “It is clear this is not correct.”

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‘Sorry’ is not a word you want to hear when you’re pregnant | Sam Drummond

People with disability do not need the medical profession’s sympathy. What we do need is an understanding of the value of diversity

It’s the last thing you want to hear when you are expecting your first child.

But there I was with my partner in a public hospital consultation room for the exciting 20-week ultrasound.

Related: The secret to… preparing for a baby if you have a disability

Neither of us would change a thing. Yet this apologetic doctor felt obliged to offer sympathy

Related: New pregnancy guidelines bring back weigh-ins and end routine vitamin D tests

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Pregnant and waiting for your baby? Forget sex and hot baths – here's my advice

Bananas, nipple stimulation, castor oil: none of these will hasten labour. Instead, soak up your last chance to be alone

My daughter has passed her due date and we are all on tenterhooks for the baby to be born. What a strange space this is. Constantly texting – “Anything?” – is probably not the best idea. I am simply waiting for the call. But still, this is yet another part of a woman’s life in which one is bombarded with weird and contradictory advice.

I thought it would have changed over the years, but no, it’s much the same. Sex. Curry. Various kinds of herbs.

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Foetus 18 Weeks: the greatest photograph of the 20th century?

In the 1950s, photojournalist Lennart Nilsson set out to capture the earliest stages of existence. His foetus images seized the public imagination – and sparked a controversy that has raged ever since

In April 1965, Life magazine put a photograph called Foetus 18 Weeks on its cover and caused a sensation. The issue was a spectacular success, the fastest-selling copy in Life’s entire history. In full colour and crystal clear detail, the picture showed a foetus in its amniotic sac, with its umbilical cord winding off to the placenta. The unborn child, floating in a seemingly cosmic backdrop, appears vulnerable yet serene. Its eyes are closed and its tiny, perfectly formed fists are clutched to its chest.

Capturing that most universal of subjects, our own creation, Foetus 18 Weeks was one of the 20th century’s great photographs, as emotive as it was technically impressive, even by today’s standards. And its impact was enormous, growing into something its creator struggled to control, as the image was hijacked by the fledgling anti-abortion movement.

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How a video game helped me reclaim my body after having a baby

Pregnancy, birth and looking after your child put a huge strain on your body – Nintendo’s Ring Fit can help you reclaim it

While celebrities and Instagram influencers seem able to shed their pregnancy weight within a few months (while cheerfully chronicling the process on an hourly basis) the reality is quite different for most women. I didn’t bounce back, I sort of crawled, and it’s hard not to feel at a loss when you’re so tired even looking at your trainers feels like work.

Between the lack of sleep and having to recover from one of the most physically demanding experiences the human body can go through, just leaving the house is an achievement in itself, let alone exercising. While the NHS recommends waiting until after your six-week postnatal check before doing anything strenuous (longer if you’ve had a caesarean or complicated delivery), experts also recommend regular activity to keep you fit, help your body recover and possibly prevent postnatal depression.

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We are there as a woman is induced to deliver her stillborn baby. The toll on doctors is heavy | Marrwah Ahmadzai

Looking after a woman during what is one of the most devastating events of her life is a huge responsibility. But we can reduce the number of stillbirths

The operation saved a mother’s life. But she will soon wake up from her anaesthetic and learn the heartbreaking news that her baby was stillborn. As the assistant during this operation, I am devastated. It is the first stillbirth I have witnessed as a junior doctor working in obstetrics.

In the sterile, empty corridor of the operating theatres afterwards, I crumble onto the shoulder of a senior clinician and tears punctuated with grief, shock and helplessness flow freely. But the moment is short-lived.

Related: 'She made me brave': Kristina Keneally demands paid leave for parents of stillborn babies

Marrwah Ahmadzai is a resident medical officer working in obstetrics and a change ambassador for Still Aware, the first Australian not-for-profit charity solely dedicated to raising awareness and ending preventable stillbirth

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