On 11 March 2018, a woman in Bandyup Women’s Prison (Bandyup), who was 36 weeks pregnant, gave birth alone in her cell. Custodial officers and medical staff were observing through the cell hatch. To protect the mother’s privacy, we refer to her as ‘Amy’ throughout this review.
Amy came into custody in the later stages of pregnancy and with multiple health needs. She was in custody for 43 days before giving birth. During this time the Department provided extensive health care by facilitating multiple appointments with King Edward Memorial Hospital for ante-natal care as well as general practitioner and other medical services. In total, Amy had nine specialised health service appointments during her 43 day stay, as well as care provided by the health team at Bandyup.
The full report contains sensitive information which intrudes on the privacy of Amy. Therefore, this will not be publicly available, but a statement containing our findings and recommendations was released publicly.