Mothers in immigration detention: the most vulnerable and the hardest to reach.

Abstract

Phoebe Pallotti and Morag Forbes are two experienced midwives who volunteered for a charity that works for the health rights of people in immigration detentions. They both have other experience of this client group and they both hold diplomas in Tropical Midwifery. Over more than three years, Phoebe and Morag have been visiting and calling on pregnant women in immigration detention, most often in the infamous detention centre, Yarl's Wood, in Bedfordshire, where a recent Channel Four documentary was secretly filmed. The centre has a small health care facility, but there are no midwifery staff employed there, though women were often referred to the local maternity unit. This article explores the situations of the pregnant women who are detained in the UK and considers how they may better be supported.