Pregnant behind bars: A prison opens a special wing for mothers-to-be and postpartum inmates

CHICAGO - Mandi Grammer was already terrified when she was admitted in March to Logan Correctional Center.

Then during intake, a routine test revealed a shock: The inmate was unexpectedly pregnant with her third child, who would continue to grow in her womb as she began serving a three-year sentence for retail theft.

Her blood pressure skyrocketed, she recalled, and she couldn't stop sobbing. The news spurred a flurry of additional worries for the 34-year-old from Carterville, Ill.

Would the pregnancy be in danger? What kind of care would she and the fetus receive behind bars? Where and under what conditions would she give birth?

Yet some of these anxieties quelled after Grammer was assigned to a new pregnancy wing at Logan, which is about three hours southwest of Chicago. The special housing unit opened in February with the mission of providing a safer and more humane environment for pregnant and postpartum inmates, said acting Warden Beatrice Calhoun.

Offenders have their own rooms and