Pregnancy can be overwhelming under any circumstance, but imagine preparing for birth while behind bars.
One Brooklyn organization is empowering new moms through a partnership on Rikers Island, offering care and connection during a critical time.
“Trying to find ways to support them within these walls”
In a quiet room filled with books and toys, Sophia Martin follows her doula’s calm voice, learning to breathe through what’s ahead.
“Hopefully everything will be good, and he’ll be nice, big and healthy,” Martin said. “He’s definitely moving a lot. I feel like I’m ready to go, but not right now.”
But this isn’t a doctor’s office or birthing center, it’s a nursery on Rikers Island.
Martin is one of a handful of expectant mothers finding support behind bars through a partnership with the Caribbean Women’s Health Association.
“Trying to find ways to support them within these walls, I think, is the hardest thing,” said Mathania Toussaint, a full-spectrum doula working with the program. “But we make it work.”
The Brooklyn-based nonprofit is the largest provider of doula services in New York City.
“When we were asked by the Department of Correction to come in to work in Rikers, we were excited because we were going to be seeing women who really need the service,” said Cheryl Hall, executive director of CWHA.
“We are incarcerated individuals, but we’re still human”
Department of Correction Commissioner Lynelle Maginley-Liddie said the program helps expectant mothers prepare for birth with dignity.
“Incarceration happens, but it doesn’t stop you from providing for your family,” Maginley-Liddie said. “You’re still a mother. You’re still a father. You still need to show up. So we’re providing all those tools while you’re in our care to better support you.”
Facility Programs Executive Director Nadely Tavarez said she sees the impact firsthand.
“They help them feel less alone, give them the voice that they need to be able to advocate for themselves when they are in the hospital talking to a doctor,” Tavarez said.
The program pairs women in custody with visiting doulas during pregnancy and for several months postpartum, building trust in a place where it can be hard to find.
If they’re eligible, incarcerated individuals and their newborns can live together in a specially designated nursery on Rikers Island while they navigate their cases.
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“Coming with open mind, open heart,” Toussaint said. “Like, I am leading this person — I want to get to know them. I’m going to get to know who they are inside and outside of the pregnancy, I think is important.”
If they’re eligible, mothers and newborns can live together in a specially designated nursery while they navigate their cases.
For Martin, who cannot speak about her case as it plays out in court, the program offers something else to focus on — the son she’s excited to meet.
“Yes, we are incarcerated individuals, but we’re still human,” she said. “And, you know, we have our rights and it’s the first time anybody’s actually worried about our comforts.”
A reminder that life doesn’t pause for circumstance, and even when freedom is limited, care can find a way in.
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