Reproductive healthcare in prison: A qualitative study of women's experiences and perspectives in Ontario, Canada.

<h4>Objective</h4>To explore women's experiences and perspectives of reproductive healthcare in prison.<h4>Methods</h4>We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured focus groups in 2018 with women in a provincial prison in Ontario, Canada. We asked participants...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jessica Liauw, Jessica Jurgutis, Elysée Nouvet, Brigid Dineley, Hannah Kearney, Naomi Reaka, Donna Fitzpatrick-Lewis, Leslea Peirson, Fiona Kouyoumdjian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0251853&type=printable
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:<h4>Objective</h4>To explore women's experiences and perspectives of reproductive healthcare in prison.<h4>Methods</h4>We conducted a qualitative study using semi-structured focus groups in 2018 with women in a provincial prison in Ontario, Canada. We asked participants about their experiences and perspectives of pregnancy and contraception related to healthcare in prison. We used a combination of deductive and inductive content analysis to categorize data. A concept map was generated using a reproductive justice framework.<h4>Results</h4>The data reflected three components of a reproductive justice framework: 1) women have limited access to healthcare in prison, 2) reproductive safety and dignity influence attitudes toward pregnancy and contraception, and 3) women in prison want better reproductive healthcare. Discrimination and stigma were commonly invoked throughout women's experiences in seeking reproductive healthcare.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Improving reproductive healthcare for women in prison is crucial to promoting reproductive justice in this population. Efforts to increase access to comprehensive, responsive, and timely reproductive healthcare should be informed by the needs and desires of women in prison and should actively seek to reduce their experience of discrimination and stigma in this context.
ISSN:1932-6203