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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Rachel Roth, PhD, Ibis Reproductive Health, 2 Brattle Sq # 4, Cambridge, MA 02138, (617) 349-0040, rachel.roth@earthlink.net and Marianne McPherson, SM, Brandeis University, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, MS035, P.O. Box 549110, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA 02454.

Over the past 30 years, incarcerated women and their advocates have emphasized the need to improve health care, including prenatal care. This presentation will outline the state of knowledge about pregnant women's experiences and the outcomes of their pregnancies in prison and jail settings. The presentation has two parts: 1) a review of the published health literature, and 2) an evaluation of that literature, with special attention to the outcomes that researchers choose to measure or omit from their studies. Our evaluation will incorporate additional information from legal, news, and other sources, with the goal of broadening the discussion of what counts as evidence when evaluating the adequacy of health care services for pregnant women. What are the implications of these various “data” for current and future policy and practice, and for the debate over whether and to what extent the imperatives of incarceration and public health can be reconciled?

Learning Objectives:

• Identify strengths and weaknesses of existing quantitative and qualitative studies.
• Identify possible sources of public health information about pregnancy care and outcomes for pregnant women in prison and jail settings.
• Discuss strategies to improve the health and well-being of women in the criminal justice system.

Keywords: Women's Health, Prisoners Health Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation