Pregnant inmates, newborns denied perinatal care

Inmates serving their sentences in prisons rely entirely on the jail management for the provision of bare necessities like food, water, clothing, and healthcare; however, as jails across Punjab heedlessly go without fundamental maternal care facilities, countless pregnant women and their unborn children face the darkness of death way before they see the light of freedom.

Recently, beyond the guarded walls of the Women’s Jail in Multan, a pregnant inmate, sentenced on the charges of theft, gave birth to her child in the absence of a trained obstetrician or midwife. While the mother was lucky enough to survive the arduous process without medical assistance, jail sources allege that the newborn baby succumbed to postnatal complications soon after the birth since it immediately required specialised paediatric care, which was not available anywhere on the jail’s premises.

Interestingly enough, an inquiry led by The Express Tribune on the case disclosed that despite keeping almost 100 female inmates, the Women’s Jail in Multan, had only 2 female general physicians available for handling women’s issues including childbirth, while no obstetric, gynae, or paediatric facility existed in the jail to offer specialised medical help and equipment for emergency level or complicated delivery cases.

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“No specialised obstetrics facility exists in the women’s jails for providing monthly prenatal checkups or for safely handling childbirth cases. We have written to the government on several occasions highlighting the dire need for an obstetrics ward to be set up in the jail but our requests have thus far been in vain,” regretted Naseem Akhtar, former Superintendent at the Women’s Jail, who wholly acknowledged the plight of female inmates, given the severe shortage of healthcare facilities in women’s jails.

Akhtar’s observation was confirmed by Asiya Bibi, another inmate at the Women’s Jail in Multan, who developed typhoid fever but was not given proper treatment at the jail’s hospital. “After some time, the disease culminated into hepatitis and I had to seek treatment outside of the jail,” shared Asiya.

According to documents obtained by The Express Tribune, across 43 jails in Punjab, which hold an approximate total of 54,000 prisoners including 929 women and 696 juveniles, there are only 10 beds and 15 female doctors dedicated to women and children each. Moreover, only 62 medical professionals exist across all jails in Punjab, leading to a scenario where 1 doctor is tasked with treating up to 870 prisoners, forcing many inmates including males to request treatment outside the jail’s premises.

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For instance, Ali Hassan, a young inmate at a jail in Faisalabad, had to receive treatment for a urinary infection at a nearby government hospital since no doctors were available at his jail. “Prisoners would not have to leave the jail’s premises if they were provided basic treatment facilities and medicines by the jail’s management,” asserted Dr Rizwan Aziz, a medical expert.

Speaking to The Express Tribune on the matter, Mian Farooq Nazir, Inspector General (IG) Prisons dismissed it by stating: ”A lady health visitor is deployed in the women’s jails while a mini laboratory offering electrocardiogram (ECG), blood tests, ultrasound and dental treatment is also available.”

It is pertinent to mention that as critics call out the government for its refusal to invest in the healthcare facilities in jails, the government is seemingly busy spending money on offering extravagant amenities to the jail’s top order officials. Reportedly, the government has set aside a Rs 200 million budget for allotting brand new cars to 42 jail Superintendents across 43 jails in Punjab.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2023.