Pregnant women will now have their own space and educational opportunities at the Cook County Jail.
Sheriff Tom Dart today took reporters for a up a tour of the area designed for detainees who need prenatal and postpartum care
By removing pregnant women from the general prison population, workers can focus on the special dietary, mental health and educational needs of the mothers-to-be.
The goal is to help the women deliver healthy babies and teach them the parenting and coping skills needed to take care of their children once they leave jail, Dart said.
A visiting room is remodeled to be more child friendly and mothers can have "contact visits" with their babies if it is deemed appropriate. Mothers can actually hold and cuddle their babies in this room when caretakers bring them for a visit.
There are no added luxuries in the sleeping area, but pregnant detainees and those who recently gave birth bunk together and take a four-week parenting course together.
A group of women met with reporters today to talk about the program. Those taking part in the media presentation ranged from a 20-year-old woman who just found out she is pregnant with her first child to a 29-year-old woman who just gave birth to her sixth child.
All expressed the benefits of what they learn in the parenting classes and what they learn from each other.
Carmelita Williams, 35, came into jail when her baby was just 2 weeks old. "I got to hold my baby on Saturday. Just knowing I have another visit with him coming up makes things a lot easier," she said.
Dara WIlliams, 20, said she is just a few weeks pregnant. She's in jail on an aggravated battery charge. She said she's looking forward to learning coping skills through the anger management class offered as part of the program.
Dart said it took two years to plan the program and redesign the space within the old Cermak Health Services section of the jail.
He said since 2009, there have been 327 pregnant women coming in and out of the jail.
Of the 800 women in custody now, 14 are pregnant, though he notes the numbers fluctuate given the fluid nature of the jail population.
