Criticism against the Swedish Prison and Probation Service for how a pregnant inmate was treated etc.

An inmate placed in a correctional facility was not allowed to see a midwife until two weeks after it had been established that she was pregnant. This delay was in part due to the fact that she was relocated to another correctional facility. Furthermore, she was told that she should wait to determine how far along in the pregnancy she was until after she had been released.

According to JO, the inmate should have been allowed to see a midwife as soon as possible and no later than within one week from when she tested positive for pregnancy. JO questions whether it would not have been possible for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service to postpone the relocation a day or two, to allow for a scheduled midwife appointment to take place, and she feels that the inmate should either way have been allowed to see a midwife sooner. In its decision, JO emphasises that a pregnancy can sometimes very stressful to a woman and that there are certain critical times for the right to an abortion and the procedure of an abortion. JO is very critical of the Swedish Prison and Probation Service’s inadequacies in this case and also makes general comments on the authority’s responsibility for pregnant inmates.