Pregnancy in imprisoned women

Background Imprisoned women are a socially disadvantaged group at greater risk of poorer obstetric and perinatal outcome compared with the general population. Despite an increased incidence of smoking, alcohol and substance abuse, the obstetric outcome is better compared to other disadvantaged but non-imprisoned controls. Imprisoned women admitted later in pregnancy after 28 weeks seem to have lighter babies compared to control group in general population. Method Retrospective case note analysis of pregnancy outcome of imprisoned pregnant women delivering at a University Hospital between 2000 and 2008. Results 48 notes were available out of 142. Their mean age was 27 years with high incidence of smoking (72.9%) and substance use (39.6%). 20 were imprisoned before 28 weeks of gestation. Most (72.9%) had spontaneous onset of labour and vaginal delivery (77.1%). The cohort imprisoned earlier than 20 weeks gestation had more antenatal admissions when compared to those imprisoned after 28 weeks (1.03 vs 0.4). Conclusion This retrospective cohort review details the good outcome of pregnancy in a vulnerable population due to dedicated maternity services offered. The increased admission in the cohort admitted at an earlier gestation is a reflector of such targeted care and detection of complications in a controlled environment.