Prison Born

Prison Born: Incarceration and Motherhood in the Colonial Shadow
by Robin F. Hansen
Published by University of Regina Press
Review by Toby A. Welch
$32.95 ISBN 9781779400079

Did I ever learn a lot from Prison Born! I’m humbled to admit that so much goes on in our blessed country that I am clueless about. This book left me feeling like I’d been walloped upside the head with a battering ram of information. (Although none of that surprises me as this is a University of Regina Press book, a publishing house that puts out well-researched, thought-provoking books that have an impact and educate readers.)

Saskatchewan has a policy – it’s been applied for decades – that every baby born to an incarcerated woman is immediately removed from its mother’s care. (The same policy is in play in most of Canada as well as most states in the US.) A true scenario involving Jacquie, an Indigenous woman from a Treaty 6 First Nation who is in her third trimester, carries throughout the book. Incarcerated in Prince Albert, she is terrified about what will happen to her child when he is born. Her story kept me glued to the pages, eager to discover the outcome.

You’ll find so many fascinating topics touched on in Prison Born. And it is filled with interesting statistics. For example, between 2016 and 2019, fifteen infants were born in Saskatchewan prisons. Looking Canada-wide, in the 2019-2020 fiscal year, 530 females were admitted into prisons. Five percent were pregnant when incarcerated and twenty-seven women gave birth in federal custody that year. For the few women who have a formalized Birth Plan, they get to spend five days together following the birth. After that time, the infant is removed from the mother. 

The most unsettling part of the book was the chapter that deals with the practice of shackling pregnant women in labour. It was horrifying to read about how Jacquie had leg restraints on for many hours during her labour, even when she was in significant medical distress due to a ruptured placenta. The shackles stayed on during her ambulance transport and while she was at the hospital. This practice violates a woman’s constitutional rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Hansen details how the Canadian legal system clearly has flaws in regards to Indigenous persons; in 2020-2021, they were imprisoned at 8.9 times the rate of non-Indigenous persons. But she doesn’t just highlight the flaws and problems in the legal system, she offers suggestions and solutions. Saskatoon-based Hansen teaches law at the University of Saskatchewan and her expertise shines through in Prison Born.

The University of Regina Press knocks it out of the park with another deep dive into a thoroughly researched book. If you have any interest in the legal culture in Canada, Indigenous issues, or the realities of our penal system, Prison Born is a must-read. 

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM