Pregnant women and their babies are dying in jail: ‘Her voice was not heard’

Dozens of pregnant women locked up in county jails described excruciating pain, saying their cries for help were ignored as they miscarried or gave birth into cell toilets or on filthy jail floors.

This article was published in partnership with Bloomberg Law.

When Chasity Congious went into labor for the first time, there were no doctors or nurses. No clean blankets to swaddle the coming baby. There were no family members, no friends.

Congious wasn’t even in a hospital. She was alone in a jail cell.

Four months earlier, she suffered a mental health crisis and her mother called 911 for help. Instead, police arrested the 21-year-old.

Now, the contractions were getting stronger, with no way to ease the soaring pain. Bleeding, she said, she pressed the emergency intercom button, but no one came. She tried to get up from the thin, dirty mat, but could not.