Premature birth ‘almost twice as likely’ in England’s prisons than outside

Data says more than 11% of women who give birth behind bars do so before 37 weeks, compared with 6.5% in community

Female prisoners are almost twice as likely to give birth prematurely as women in the general population, leaving them and their babies at risk, new research reveals.

More than one in 10 (11%) women who have a child while behind bars do so before 37 weeks of their pregnancy, compared with 6.5% of mothers in the community, the Nuffield Trust found.