"Growing Together" program for Wrightsville Prison

Incarcerated pregnant women are a largely invisible population with great need for health care and advocacy. The number of women who are incarcerated in the U.S. has increased over 750%, or from 13,258 in 1980 to 111,616 in 2016. Arkansas has the 8th highest number of incarcerated women in the nation, 60% higher than the national average. As the number of incarcerated women has risen, so too has the need for jails and prisons to address women’s health needs, including pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum care. Nationally, over 75% of incarcerated women are of childbearing age and about 4% are pregnant at intake.

Over the past two years we have worked to support incarcerated women who are pregnant in our state. One of our big accomplishments has been helping to start the state’s first prison-based lactation program, which allows women to provide breastmilk for their newborns despite being incarcerated.

However, we are in need of some critical materials to be able to continue. We are in especially in need of a hospital-grade breast pump that we can permanently place at the unit. This unit is expensive and is the main reason that we are looking to raise funds. We are also looking for funds to make smaller purchases to support the program including books for a small library in the lactation room and materials for childbirth education.

All money raised in this fundraiser will be used to purchase items that will be donated to the Arkansas Department of Correction for use in the lactation program at the Hawkins Unit.

Donations of any amount are appreciated!