The Nation - News from Dec. 12, 1988

A new kind of state prison--for pregnant inmates only--opens in Boston today in an effort to keep new mothers and their babies together. Although a few other prison systems in the country allow mothers to remain for a time with their infants, the Neil J. Houston House will offer features unavailable elsewhere. Inmates of the 15-bed facility will be confined to the building, but they will have access to counselors, drug rehabilitation, help in readjusting to society and medical care during pregnancy and after. Only women eligible for early release will be considered for admission to the program. Separating women and babies at birth causes “a serious rupture in mother-infant bonding,” said Lyla Austin of Social Justice for Women, a private, nonprofit advocacy group. Currently, inmates in Massachusetts are separated from their children and returned to their cells within days of giving birth.