Kate meets prison mums who say childcare is better in jail than on the outside

Mums who gave birth in a prison that has been dubbed ‘hell on earth’ have told the Princess of Wales childcare is better there than it is on the outside. Kate visited HMP Styal, a women’s prison in Cheshire, on Tuesday to meet inmates and ex-offenders who have been helped by a mother and baby unit run by the charity Action for Children, which the princess represents as royal patron. She was met by shouts of ‘we need more funding’ and ‘tell them the truth’, as well as a wolf whistle and cat calls, when she first arrived.

She sat down with two former inmates – one who left the prison six weeks ago with her toddler son after serving a 14-month sentence for an undisclosed offence and another who was 30 weeks pregnant when she began an 11-month sentence and gave birth to a daughter in prison. The first told Kate how it was only by being sent to prison that she received ‘so much’ help, something that was unlikely to have been available in her local community.

The future queen replied: ‘It shouldn’t have to take something like this to get access to something like this…’. The ex-inmate said: ‘I only left six weeks ago, and I am just getting rolling with everything again. Thinking about work, nurseries. ‘I have said so many times that I just wish I could take this (prison) nursery and put it in my hometown.’. She added: ‘We are both first-time mums and put it this way, we didn’t start the best way, but where we are now is incredible.

‘We got the most out of it we possibly could. We made silly decisions and ended up in this position, but you can’t turn back the clock. So, we just stuck with it in here and got as much out of it as we could. ‘There is so much we have done that I wouldn’t necessarily get access to if this hadn’t have happened.’. The mother and baby unit is one of three Action for Children run in prisons in the north of England, and they provide a separate living area for inmates, who are helped to care for their babies by trained prison staff and early years and family support practitioners.

She told staff from the unit: ‘It is great that you are looking at the mother’s wellbeing as well. The best thing for baby is to have a mother whose emotional needs and wellbeing is met as well.’. The event was Kate’s fifth public engagement in just over two weeks as she continues with her gradual return to official duties since completing her cancer treatment. When Kate chatted with staff from the mother and baby unit, she asked about its effects on reoffending, suggesting it was ‘massive’, and was told normal reoffending rates for women were around 70% but this reduced to just 12% with those receiving parental support.

Kate has made the promotion of the early years development of children one of the key elements of her public work. Amanda Taylor, operational director of children’s services at Action for Children, said: ‘Given the challenges the mums are going through, it is really important to give the babies the very best start in life. ‘The princess’ passion is early years, and she understands the impact on the outcome of adulthood happens during these critical early years.

‘The babies aren’t prisoners, the babies happen to be living in this environment. So, it’s really important for us to give them the best start in life. It’s why the environment for them and their mothers is so important.’. As of March 2024, there had been at least 11 suicides at HMP Styal since 2007 – more than any other women’s prison in England. One former inmate at HMP Styal described it as ‘hell on earth’.

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