WATCH: Full hearing video here
Sen. Ossoff’s investigation uncovers evidence of women being forced to undergo C-sections against their will; pregnant women being shackled; women who gave birth unassisted into toilets, on floors
Ms. Jessica “Drew” Umberger, who was incarcerated in Georgia, testified she was forced to undergo a C-section & later had to pay for the procedure, despite not wanting it [VIDEO CLIP HERE]
Ms. Karine Laboy, mother of Tianna Laboy, testified that her daughter gave birth “into a prison toilet” despite her daughter’s pleas for help [VIDEO CLIP HERE]
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff’s investigation has uncovered pervasive abuse of pregnant women in prison.
Sen. Ossoff, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Human Rights Subcommittee, today revealed that his investigation has uncovered pervasive abuse of pregnant women in prison, including women who were forced to undergo C-sections against their will, pregnant women who were shackled around their stomachs (despite the practice being widely illegal already), and women who gave birth unassisted while imprisoned.
Ms. Jessica “Drew” Umberger, who was incarcerated while pregnant in a Georgia state prison, testified that she was required, despite her wishes, to undergo a c-section, faced medical complications after the procedure, and then was kept in solitary confinement for 3 weeks after giving birth, without access to basic supplies.
Ms. Karine Laboy, mother of Tianna Laboy, testified during today’s hearing that her daughter gave birth “into a prison toilet” despite her daughter’s pleas for help while imprisoned in York, Connecticut.
“I was most scared the morning I was to give birth. I was told by prison staff that because I had a c-section 18 years prior, it was Georgia Department of Corrections’ policy that I had to have another one. Even though I told them I wanted to have a vaginal birth, they told me it was not allowed. It is my strong belief that the prison staff wanted me to have a c-section to fit my birth into their hospital transport schedule. God had other plans,” Ms. Umberger testified [VIDEO CLIP HERE]. “I ended up with pre-eclampsia and had to be rushed to a hospital. This is where my trauma turned for the worse. I was dropped off with officers I did not know at a hospital and was in a surgery room surrounded by strangers: doctors who never examined me and nurses I’d never met. When I explained to the doctor that I was told I had to have a c-section but that I wanted a natural birth, the doctor said it sounded like ‘coercion’ to him.”
“My beautiful Jordyn was born August 15, 2018. I had only two short hours to hold and look at my baby. This would be the last time I would see her for a few years — about 3 years. We were separated, she was taken to the Neonatal Unit, and I was taken to a dark basement, where they kept incarcerated people. In the basement, I was transferred from the rolling bed to a stationary bed. I had to be helped by a couple of nurses as I could not feel my legs. I remember the nurse asking the male Sergeant to step out so she could clean me up, and he replied, ‘I can’t do that ma’am.’ She looked me in the eyes and quietly said, ‘I’m sorry,’ and proceeded to clean my private areas while the male sergeant watched,” Ms. Umberger continued [VIDEO CLIP HERE]. “The next few days I remember random men looking every hour into that small window of the locked door. I remember seeing feet of people walking by my ‘caged’ window and thinking, ‘if people only knew what was happening down here, what would they say, or would they even care?’”
Ms. Umberger testified she was transported to Lee Arrendale State Prison three days after giving birth and unable to say goodbye to her child. She said that no one checked on my mental health postpartum and she was never screened for postpartum depression. Ms. Umberger said, “I was not given my property and therefore could not shower properly. I had been wearing the same underwear from the day I gave birth and did not have a change of underwear. When I would ask for pads, I was given one, maybe two if I was lucky … I was put in solitary when my baby was only five days old.” [VIDEO CLIP HERE]
Ms. Karine Laboy told the heartbreaking story of how her daughter, Tianna, gave birth in the prison facility, despite repeated pleas for help, and how Karine’s granddaughter nearly died during childbirth.
“On February 9, my daughter started experiencing labor symptoms, abdominal pain, and discharge. Medical and correctional staff dismissed her pleas, providing only a heating pad and instructing her to ‘lie down’ for 4 more agonizing days. She told me she felt like a ‘caged animal’ throughout her pregnancy at York — which pains me to this day,” Ms. Karine Laboy testified [VIDEO CLIP HERE].
“My daughter began bleeding while using the toilet. She called for help, but nobody responded. Security camera footage shows my daughter placing a t-shirt between her legs, grasping the prison walls for support as she tried to walk to breakfast. When she came back, she sat on the toilet. The t-shirt was completely bloody, and she began to scream for help when she realized her baby was coming. Nobody came. My granddaughter was born into the toilet bowl. She was unresponsive and not breathing once she was outside my daughter’s body.”
“If not for my daughter’s quick thinking and her cellmate’s help to pat my granddaughter’s back and get the water out of her, she would not be alive today. When prison medical staff finally arrived, their response was cruel and insensitive. They joked that my granddaughter had ‘took her first swim’ and proceeded to cut her umbilical cord inside a dirty prison cell—disregarding the dignity and well-being of both my daughter and her granddaughter,” Laboy continued [VIDEO CLIP HERE].
Sen. Ossoff’s investigation found examples of women who were denied standard postpartum care or had postpartum complications that the jails or prisons housing them did not adequately address. The investigation also uncovered several reports of new mothers being separated from their newborn moments after giving birth, despite the known importance of early mother infant bonding.
Dr. Carolyn Sufrin, Associate Professor Obstetrics and Gynecology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Associate Professor of Health, Behavior and Society at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Fellow at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, testified that more action is needed to protect pregnant women who are incarcerated.
“The time is long past due to change conditions for incarcerated pregnant and postpartum women. They deserve access to comprehensive, quality medical care. We must recognize the connections between the maternal mortality crisis and incarceration, and we can start by collecting national scale data that link maternal health outcomes with incarceration,” Dr. Sufrin testified. “Because without data, we cannot know the full scope of the problems — and their solutions. Our nation’s conscience must see that what happens — or does not happen — to pregnant women behind bars is a human rights issue. The time to act is now.”
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