Pregnant women and new mothers shouldn’t be sent to jail, UK public says

Poll shared with Observer shows high support for reform of prison sentencing to stop ‘lives being torn apart’

The British public backs reforms to how pregnant women and mothers are sentenced in courts, a new poll shared with the Observer has found.

Polling conducted this month by Survation, on behalf of the campaign group Level Up and the women’s charity One Small Thing, found 53% of respondents believed a mother with a baby should not be sent to prison with her infant if a community-based alternative was available. Only 28% disagreed, with the rest answering “don’t know”. A similar majority believed the long-term effects on a child should be a key consideration when sentencing a mother.