Members of the Birth Support Working Group, who authored the report, at the launch event.
The Arnhold Institute for Global Health’s New York City Partnership has launched Born Inside: Birth Experiences During Incarceration and the Need for Doula Care, a report that highlights the importance of doula care for people who are incarcerated and giving birth.
The report was developed by the Birth Support Working Group, a collaboration between the Women & Justice Project, Hour Children, NYC Health+Hospitals/Elmhurst, and the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at Mount Sinai. Insights from the report directly informed the doula program at Rikers Island and its community counterpart, Growing HOPE.
The New York City Partnership’s HOPE doula program provides physical, emotional, and educational support to patients at NYC Health+Hospitals/Elmhurst and NYC Health+Hospitals/Queens from pregnancy through one year postpartum. In 2024, the program expanded with the launch of Growing HOPE, providing doula care to people who are “justice-involved” (currently or formerly incarcerated) or affected by housing insecurity—populations that experience some of the highest health needs and complications.
To understand how to support pregnant people in prisons and jails, members of the Birth Support Working Group held in-depth conversations with 10 people who gave birth while incarcerated, learning from their insight and expertise. By amplifying their voices, the report offers an empowering platform for participants to share their experiences firsthand and make recommendations to doulas, hospitals and health care providers, and policymakers on how to improve care and support for those incarcerated during pregnancy and childbirth.
One woman featured in the report said, “I’m really excited about them making this [doula program] available for women, because I know how I felt when I was there. And I was so scared in that delivery room by myself, I even was grabbing up to the doctor, you know, just to try to hold his hand because I was so terrified.”
At the launch event, presenters shared a mural in East Harlem designed by mothers incarcerated at Rikers Island and painted by their children. Credit: “If Walls Could Talk” by Katie Yamasaki.
The official launch of the Born Inside report at the Elmhurst Hospital auditorium in November 2025, featured a panel of formerly incarcerated women and health care providers who shared insights about the realities of the birthing experience. The session closed with recognition of the hardworking doulas who deliver high-quality, culturally sensitive care to a community of women who are often overlooked or underserved.
In October 2025, Sheela Maru, MD, MPH, Director of the New York City Partnership and Associate Professor of Global Health and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Krupa Harishankar, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Global Health and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science, presented the report with fellow members of the Birth Support Working Group at the 3rd Annual Global Prison Nursery Network Symposium: Pregnancy and Postpartum in Prison: Healthcare, Law, and Lived Experience.
The report’s authors and participants hope the insights will further inform practice and policy that advance maternal health and improve the birthing experience for people who are incarcerated, including implementation of the CARE Act, an active bill in the New York State legislature.
The report’s recommendations include:
• Funding community-based alternatives to incarceration tailored to pregnancy and parenting.
• Developing and implementing policies and programs that prioritize the expertise of people who have given birth during incarceration.
• Providing access to high-quality doula care, reproductive health care, and mental health services throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period.
• Ensuring safe and healthy conditions for pregnant people in prisons, including upholding anti-shackling laws.
• Protecting and upholding the autonomy of incarcerated birthing people to make their own choices about their health and their children’s health.
The doula program at Rikers Island and its community counterpart Growing HOPE, which provides care continuity for people giving birth who were formerly incarcerated, have served more than 100 patients with plans to expand. This program demonstrates the impact of tailored, compassionate doula care as a realistic, scalable model with the potential to be adapted to improve the health of “justice-involved” pregnant people nationwide.
As another report participant reflected, “Having them [doulas] in the delivery room with you, having them be there to advocate for you, having them be there to reassure you, just that mental emotional support, having someone you can trust, I think is just so important for pregnant women and the child.”
Chloe Tenn, MSc, is the Digital Communications Manager for the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.