Prison Miscarriage: Officers Forced Woman To Clean Up Fetus Herself

A woman was forced to clean up her own fetus after she’d had a miscarriage while inside a private prison, a court in England has heard.

37-year-old Nadine Wright was heavily pregnant when she was arrested for stealing food “out of desperation.” While she was incarcerated, Wright then lost her baby. She’s claimed that, even though a nurse was present, she wasn’t offered any assistance during her time of pain.

Wright, of Newbold Verdon, Leicestershire, cleaned up her own blood that had splattered around her prison cell, and she has also claimed that the fetus was left inside with her afterwards.

Philip Gibbs, Wright’s barrister, told Leicester Crown Court: “There was blood everywhere and she was made to clean it up.”

He then explained, “The baby was not removed from the cell. It was quite appalling. It was very traumatic. She only received health care three days later, after the governor intervened.”

Wright was initially arrested on 23 November, before being taken into custody at HMP Peterborough. The court wasn’t told how far along she was in her pregnancy, however. The tragedy then occurred on 24 November.

Wright’s arrest came after she stole £13.94 worth of food from a Co-Op store, and Mr Gibbs has noted that she only took the products because of her desperate and painful hunger. She couldn’t afford them because she hadn’t received benefit payments that she was entitled to.

Despite this trauma, Wright has been sentence to 10 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to breaching two court orders. Wright didn’t attend probation service appointments, and also had been found guilty of shoplifting other items.

Gibbs has since explained that Wright suffers from various mental health issues, and she’s been battling heroin addiction since she was just 14 years old which was exacerbated by her mother’s death in September, as well as her pregnancy.

Legal representatives have confirmed that they will now investigate her mistreatment. However, HMP Peterborough has refused to comment on these allegations, telling The Independent, “[we] cannot comment publicly on individual cases.” They also didn’t reveal if there would be an inquiry.

The spokesperson did confirm, though: “A prisoner received medical treatment on the day of her arrival in prison and was seen by a GP the following day. We have a duty of care to all prisoners that we hold. As part of that, we ensure that all prisoners have access to the same level of NHS services as those in the community.”