Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40892296›Full record

ArticleHealth & justice2025

"It's gotta be really hard to be a mom inside right now:" a qualitative analysis on the impacts of COVID-19 on perinatal support programs for people in prison.

Abaki Beck, Ingie Osman, Ashley Watson, Cheri Branham, Brittany Seaver, Aparea Smith, Noël L Marsh, Carolyn Sufrin, Rebecca J Shlafer

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Health & justice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Abaki BeckSchool of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware Street S.E, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA. beck1369@umn.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4861-7697
Ingie OsmanDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Ashley WatsonDepartment of Communication, State University of New York at Geneseo, Geneseo, NY, USA.
Cheri BranhamCommunity Research Council, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Brittany SeaverCommunity Research Council, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Aparea SmithCommunity Research Council, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Noël L MarshDepartment of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Carolyn SufrinDepartment of Gynecology & Obstetrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, US.
Rebecca J ShlaferDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.

Funding

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development 1R01HD103634-01
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPrisons are well understood to be hotspots of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, little is known about the impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had on pregnant and postpartum people in prison. We conducted a secondary analysis of 63 semi-structured qualitative interviews (December 2021-May 2023) with subject matter experts, primarily perinatal program staff working in prisons, to better understand how perinatal support programs for people in prison were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

resultsWe identified nine themes in interviews as impacting perinatal support programming for incarcerated pregnant and postpartum people during the COVID-19 pandemic: 1) prison COVID-19 preventative practices and their influences on perinatal support programs; 2) COVID-19 quarantine and confinement of pregnant and postpartum people; 3) changes in the pregnant and postpartum population and reentry support; 4) changes to birth support during incarceration; 5) lack of communication and inconsistency between the DOC and perinatal support programs; 6) DOC staffing and staff turnover; 7) lack of access to volunteer-led programming and visiting; 8) relationships between perinatal support programs and DOC healthcare providers; and 9) relationships between perinatal support programs and hospitals. Results were organized into a modified socioecological model, allowing us to view different spheres of influence, how they interact and overlap, and as we describe in the discussion section, where practitioners and policy-makers might intervene. In particular, we focused on the organizational, relational, and structural levels, with multiple themes organized into each level. All of these themes, together, help provide information on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted perinatal support programs in prisons.

conclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic had drastic impacts on prison operations and perinatal support programs, with cascading influences on the health and wellbeing of pregnant and postpartum people who are incarcerated. We conclude with a series of recommendations, developed by the research team and a community research council of formerly incarcerated individuals, that aim to address pandemic-related health disparities and promote health equity among those disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Indexed as

COVID-19DoulaIncarcerationPandemicPerinatalPostpartumPregnancyPrisonProgrammingSupports

Identifiers

PMID40892296
PMCPMC12403475

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.