Bonnie is in the Franklin County Correctional Institute (Prison).  She gave birth to Benjamin at Bay State Hospital in 2009.  Bonnie gave Benjamin up for adoption.  Doula Marianne Bullock of Prison Birth Project (pictured below) helped Bonnie before and during the birth.

 

The Prison Birth Project is an organization focused on reproductive justice, working to provide education, support and resources about pregnancy, birth and mothering to incarcerated women. Their goal is to provide the tools to help make empowering birth choices and provide continuous care throughout the pregnancy, birth and postpartum process. They offer this in the form of childbirth education classes, one on one meeting time and open resource compilation with local service organizations and knowledgeable references. They provide doula care to women while incarcerated at the Western Massachusetts Women’s Correction Center in Chicopee, MA, and through transitional programs and after release into the community. Their groups meet bi-weekly to discuss issues of pregnancy, birth and parenting. They seek to provide a transformational space for women to support each other and work through issues they may have that may affect pregnancy, labor and life. As doulas, they assist these women throughout the entire process of labor, childbirth and postpartum. They recognize childbirth as a normal process of the body and a healthy life experience. They believe that reproductive oppression is the result of the intersection of multiple social, economic and political injustices and is inherently connected to the struggle for social justice and human rights.