Dr Laura Abbott (University of Hertfordshire) has been nominated for Research & Innovation Impact at the #AllianceAwards2025! Her research on maternal justice has led to policy change, including pregnancy being recognised as a mitigating factor in sentencing. 🔗 buff.ly/Z5ooUgF

Thrilled to share that I’ve been promoted to Professor of Maternal Health and Criminal Justice at Uni of Hertfordshire - It’s a milestone that reflects not just my work, but the power of collaboration, listening to women, and pushing for change where it’s most needed 💜 @birthcompanions.bsky.social

@midwifeteacher.bsky.social @lancasteruni.bsky.social @lancasteruni.bsky.social @cleanbrk.bsky.social

We are watching 'Scenes from Lost Mothers', a new play from @cleanbrk.bsky.social‬. This performance shines a light on the real experiences of women navigating pregnancy and separation from their babies while in prison. @midwifeteacher.bsky.social @uhertfordshireucu.bsky.social lostmothers.org

On 16th July @cleanbrk.bsky.social Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s brilliant ‘Scenes from Lost Mothers’ will be performed in Heslington. Generously funded by Y&S Hospitals Charity - tickets are free but going fast! See details here and please do share! @herts.ac.uk @rcm.org.uk @birthcompanions.bsky.social

On 16th July @cleanbrk.bsky.social Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s brilliant ‘Scenes from Lost Mothers’ will be performed in Heslington. Generously funded by Y&S Hospitals Charity - tickets are free but going fast! See details here and please do share! @herts.ac.uk @rcm.org.uk @birthcompanions.bsky.social

2025's second #ARCseminar - chaired by @arc-gm.bsky.social - is at 1pm TODAY! Exploring lived experience with creative arts www.eventbrite.com/cc/nihr-arcs... @ucl.ac.uk @midwifeteacher.bsky.social @arceastofengland.bsky.social @cleanbrk.bsky.social @birthcompanions.bsky.social @arc-em.bsky.social

We are delighted to see explicit recognition of the harms of prison for pregnant women and new mothers in today's Sentencing Review, with clear alternatives inc. suspended and deferred sentencing and increased community support set out. Our full response: www.birthcompanions.org.uk/articles/res...

Last week the final report from the Lost Mothers project was published, a ground-breaking piece of research from @herts.ac.uk and @birthcompanions.bsky.social. Read @midwifeteacher.bsky.social's summary of the project's heart-breaking, yet galvanising findings: bit.ly/CBDrLauraAbb...

What happens when motherhood begins behind bars? Join Dr Laura Abbott on Maternity & Midwifery Hour as we explore pregnancy in criminal justice settings. 14 May | 7PM UK Register for free: shorturl.at/hJNz2 #MidwiferyHour #Matflix #PregnancyBehindBars #CPD

On Thursday we launched the Lost Mothers Project findings @birthcompanions.bsky.social @britishlibrary.bsky.social Powerful performances from @cleanbrk.bsky.social, art by Beci Ward. Experiences shared reveal a depth of unimaginable pain - ‘…my whole body craved him’ Time 4 change is now.

It was a privilege to have been here & see ‘Scenes from lost mothers’ from @cleanbrk.bsky.social I left emotional & angry that in our society we are so inhumane how we treat women & children.1/2

Looking forward to being at this today

It’s an extraordinary & moving event, mixing research evidence, lived experience in drama form & panel discussion among expert & informed people. Clear & doable policy asks are in the report: just do it @yvettecooper-mp.bsky.social

‘The pain was worse than giving birth’: why are so many women separated from their babies in prison? www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Our team are looking forward to launching the findings of our Lost Mothers project today at The British Library @birthcompanions.bsky.social Featuring the excellent Scenes from Lost Mothers by @cleanbrk.bsky.social @herts.ac.uk #ESRC @nihrarcs.bsky.social

Brilliant to see my @herts.ac.uk colleague @midwifeteacher.bsky.social's co-produced #LostMothers research featured in the Grauniad 👏👏

Powerful piece on the separation of babies from their mothers in prison based on the ‘Lost Mothers’ research led by @midwifeteacher.bsky.social If more evidence was needed to persuade anyone that pregnant women should not be imprisoned, this is it. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Really good to see @midwifeteacher.bsky.social's important work featured in the national media. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Fascinating (& horrifying) to read about @midwifeteacher.bsky.social's Lost Mothers Project today. I've been thinking a lot recently about how we represent & experience breastfeeding & milk production (or suppression) within prisons & other systems of oppression. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Interesting article about the Lost Mothers Project from @midwifeteacher.bsky.social who recently met with @academichv.bsky.social for one of our Supporting Early Minds webinars www.msn.com/en-gb/news/u...

@rcm.org.uk looking forward to talking about The Lost Mothers project today at conference and why we need an alternative to imprisonment for pregnant women and new Mums #rcmconf25

It was brilliant to champion disabled women in Parliament today with @marietidball.bsky.social working to secure safe, high-quality, inclusive maternity care. Disabled mothers must be central to improving care, and I’m so pleased to be involved in this campaign with so many other incredible women.

We are among the many charities that have co-signed this letter to the Lord Chancellor. Blocking the Sentencing Council's guidelines on pre-sentence reports means putting more pregnant women, new mothers and babies in prison, and at risk of significant harm. www.theguardian.com/law/2025/apr...

One week left to apply for our July 2025 volunteer training programme!

Please share 🥰 📣Clean Break have extended their national tour of Scenes from Lost Mothers! 📣 You now have until the end of July to book a performance for your educational institution, workplace, training, seminar or conference. Find out more: www.cleanbreak.org.uk/productions/...

Please share 🥰 📣Clean Break have extended their national tour of Scenes from Lost Mothers! 📣 You now have until the end of July to book a performance for your educational institution, workplace, training, seminar or conference. Find out more: www.cleanbreak.org.uk/productions/...

Every Easter I think of women in prison, locked in for long periods of time over 4 days. For pregnant women & new mothers, the isolation is brutal. Our Lost Mothers research makes it clear: we must stop sending pregnant women to prison. @birthcompanions.bsky.social @cleanbrk.bsky.social

Emotions in #PublicInvolvement. Recording of the second in the @nihrarcs.bsky.social #PPI webinar series with colleagues from @arceastofengland.bsky.social @arc-southlondon.bsky.social @penarc.bsky.social

A moving letter from a criminal defence solicitor representing a young mother of an infant, who explains the human cost of losing the new sentencing guideline. “The justice secretary’s political point-scoring has devastating consequences” @hodgejonesallen.bsky.social

Supporting pregnant women and mothers of young children under probation supervision. Webinar by @birthcompanions.bsky.social and @advancecharity.bsky.social 20 May 11.30-12.30 events.teams.microsoft.com/event/a8fc78...

‘you cannot hang up motherhood as if it were a coat’- is an embodied part of a mother’s identity. @shonaminson.bsky.social considers motherhood & the impact of imprisonment in this brilliant essay. Well worth a listen.

All pregnancies in prison are high risk, with higher rates of stillbirth & prematurity. Sentencing decisions = difference between life and death. @birthcompanions.bsky.social @cleanbrk.bsky.social @verabaird.bsky.social @shonaminson.bsky.social @janeystarling.bsky.social @rcm.org.uk

🧵 "...This delay means that sentencers may not fully and adequately consider the significant risks that custodial sentences pose to the health and wellbeing of both mother and child; risks that have resulted in the deaths of several babies in the prison estate."

Our Director Naomi Delap responds to Imposition Guideline delay: "We are disappointed that the Sentencing Council has has had to delay this coming into force. This updated guideline included specific and extensive direction on sentencing pregnant women and mothers of very young children...🧵

Being in a sold-out theatre watching #ScenesfromLostMothers has been incredible. 2 see shifts in public opinion was what we hoped for. We can & will stop sending pregnant women to prison. Thanks 2 amazing @cleanbrk.bsky.social cast & team ❤️ @herts.ac.uk @rcm.org.uk @birthcompanions.bsky.social

It was great to join Level Up and @cleanbrk.bsky.social this morning at the annual No Births Behind Bars protest outside the MoJ! We are closer than ever before to putting an end to imprisoning pregnant women, whether sentenced or remanded - it's in the guidelines, now let's make it a statute. ✊

ADORABLE No Births Behind Bars protest outside the MOJ to demand an end to imprisonment of pregnant women and mothers. Grumpy babies say NO MORE!

Just Stop Oil protester, 78, returned to jail as no tag fitted her, on her life inside Gaie Delap on the shocking failures in healthcare and support she saw in jail, and how she coped with being there www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Pregnancy & birth can be a challenging experience, but for disabled women the barriers are far greater, a new report says’. @marietidball.bsky.social talks to Kylie Pentelow at BBC woman’s hour (from around 10.30) @rcm.org.uk

“We don’t have a criminal justice system that’s designed for women.” - Kate Fraser, Head of Practice at Women In Prison on the Life After Prison sofa 🛋️ Check out the full interview: open.spotify.com/episode/5gPV... #womeninprison #podcast

Our #ArtsForImpact @biggive.bsky.social challenge is live! ✨ From now until Tuesday 25 March, all donations to Clean Break will be doubled: bit.ly/CBArtsForImpactBlue Hear the cast of Scenes from Lost Mothers talk about the powerful impact of theatre, whether you're on stage or in the audience.

🚨Today’s report on HMP Styal reveals soaring rates of self-harm, substance misuse and a failure to secure women housing on release. Our CEO Campbell Robb has said the failures ‘endanger women at a moment of immense vulnerability’. Read our full response: www.nacro.org.uk/news/nacro-r...

Actor Claire Bayley performs a powerful moment from our play with @herts.ac.uk, Scenes from Lost Mothers. Written by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti and based on @midwifeteacher.bsky.social Lost Mothers research project, with input from @birthcompanions.bsky.social Lived Experience Team. youtu.be/Nw_gzLe0x8o

‘The Scottish Children’s Hearings System recognises that children who have suffered neglect or abuse often go on to offend. The focus is supposed to be on “needs”, not “deeds”.’ @danigaravelli.bsky.social on the youth suicide crisis in Scotland’s prisons: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Exciting to see our paper on international women's problem solving courts in the Prison Service Journal. Co-authored this with @rutharmstrong.bsky.social and two @oxfordcrim.bsky.social graduate researchers @arkluge.bsky.social and @iuliavatau.bsky.social👏 www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/prison-servi...

Really powerful clip from the brilliant @cleanbrk.bsky.social play based on @midwifeteacher.bsky.social and @birthcompanions.bsky.social co-produced 'Lost Mothers' research on enforced separation of babies from women in the criminal justice system: lostmothers.org

Accurate and terrifying from @chrischirp.bsky.social christinapagel.substack.com/p/censor-pur...

Powerful moment - Scenes from Lost Mothers 💜@birthcompanions.bsky.social @rcm.org.uk @janeystarling.bsky.social @sandallj.bsky.social @birtelam.bsky.social @drlucyb.bsky.social @shonaminson.bsky.social @davidchallen.bsky.social @nihrarcs.bsky.social @louca-mai.bsky.social @suzannezeedyk.bsky.social

"I never wanted my research to live in a folder. What theatre does is bring it to life. When we see the play, we see different stories: they're all stories from the women we've spoken to over the years." - Dr. Laura Abbott #DoughtyStWomen #IWD2025