Ostara Initiative Recreates Prison Birth at UW-Milwaukee 

A solitary hospital bed is illuminated in the middle of a room. The mattress is thin and hard, like a prison slab. The lights are dim and the room is cold. 

After a moment, a pregnant woman in a gray sweatsuit waddles in, her arm tightly held by a guard in a dark uniform. The sound of the heavy shackles she wears fills the room as they cut off circulation in her wrist. 

They’re removed momentarily, so she may replace her [clothing] with an open back hospital gown that remains untied. The guard unshackles her from behind and stays in the room as she undresses.  

The Ostara Initiative’s mission is to end prison birth in America. The non-profit organization is women-founded and women-led. 

The idea to begin their project began in 2004 in response to the needs of pregnant and parenting women in Minnesota prisons. 

Members of the organization came to Marquette University and UW-Milwaukee to educate the community through their reenactments of the prison birth experience. 

After she gets on the bed and the nurse returns, the healthcare provider says “Uh-uh, she needs to keep those on.” And so, the shackles are put back on as she rolls in discomfort and pain on the bed. 

“You realize that all the freedoms you had are gone,” said Markesha Hollins, who played the role of the pregnant woman. “You’re just at rock bottom.” 

This was just a reenactment done by Hollins and others with the Ostara Initiative, but it holds true to the experience of the multiple pregnant people in Wisconsin prisons. 

The number of pregnant people incarcerated in Wisconsin prisons is not available on the Wisconsin Department of Corrections website. 

There were 328 pregnant women in custody at both state and federal prisons in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. 

In the United States, a birth occurs in prisons every six hours, according to Ostara Initiative. 14 of these births happened in the calendar year of 2025 while in custody of the Wisconsin Women’s Correctional System, according to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.  

Under Wis. 301.049, established in 1991, it is required by law that the department administers a “mother-young childcare program allowing females to retain, during participation in the program, the physical custody of their children.” 

According to the law, if the child is already one year old, the incarcerated parent may not participate in the state-funded program. 

There are currently 36 prisons in Wisconsin, not including federal prisons or county jails. Three of them are specifically made to house incarcerated women. 

All facilities have health services units attached to them. However, patients are referred to outside facilities in their communities for surgery and/or specialty care, according to the Wisconsin DOC.  

Some of the prisons provide specific programming and housing designed for specific medical needs and care. For example, the female infirmary is at Taycheedah Correctional Institution and Oshkosh Correctional Institution runs a long-term care unit as well as a palliative care unit, according to the Wisconsin DOC. 

Ostara Initiative Aims to End Prison Birth 

The simulation was separated into two segments: the first being without a present doula and the second with one.  

After the first demonstration, audience members called out their emotions from their seats; sad, upset, disgusted. 

“It was stressing me out, just watching it,” said an audience member. 

Many of the attending audience either work in healthcare or are studying to do so. 

Ostara Initiative proposes multiple solutions to the issues in the birthing process in prison: more prison doulas, group prenatal education, lactation support and innovative programming for the future. 

Tracey Russell, an actress in the demonstration, has been a doula for over 10 years and works with the Ostara Initiative through the Wisconsin Prison Birth Project established recently in 2025.  

“We’ve seen the improvement; we know that doulas help,” said Russell. 

According to their website, in 26 controlled trials, birth-givers and newborns with doulas were more likely to require less pain medication, have shorter labors and have lower rates of C-section. 

They’ve established many support programs in multiple states, including Alabama, Minnesota, Oregon and Wisconsin. 

A Call to Ban the Shackling

Shackles on her hands all the way to her feet, Hollins waddled into the room with all eyes on her. 

“You look at her and you think, ‘what has she done to need those?’” said Erica Gerrity, executive director of the Ostara Initiative.  

Shackles used to restrain imprisoned people in Wisconsin typically weigh between 16-20 pounds, according to Gerrity.  

The “Dignity for Incarcerated Women and Girls” bill aims to ban the shackling of incarcerated women while they’re giving birth. 

The bill would also implement a doula program and other policies [for] supporting pregnant people through the entire birthing process.  

It’s supported by former State Sen. Lena Taylor, Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison) and Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire).  

It is still being considered in the state legislature and has not yet been passed, according to WisPolitics.