A woman has revealed how she was forced to give birth to her daughter while chained to her bed in prison.
Mum Jessica Kent ended up in jail in Arkansas in the US while expecting, and her daughter was taken away from her and placed into foster care.
She vowed to get her daughter back on her release from prison and, after spending a year fighting for full custody, was finally reunited with her little girl after getting back on her feet.
Jessica, who was an addict for 10 years, has been in recovery for nine years and is now a motivational speaker and has become known for sharing her experience of prison – especially childbirth – on social media.
She was first arrested when she was three weeks pregnant and found out in jail that she was having a baby, before later being sentenced and jailed at six months pregnant.
Sharing her story in a viral video that has been watched more than 3.3million times, Jessica revealed that she was forced to give birth while chained to a bed in her cell and guards watching her.
“I found out I was pregnant in jail. I was sentenced to five years, I gave birth chained to a bed with guards on my shoulder,” she reveals in her post.
“They told me I’d never see my baby again because she was going into foster care. I fought addiction every day in prison along with depression, PTSD and chronic insomnia.”
In the same video, she shares how she turned her life around on her release, working two jobs and providing a stable environment for herself, and now she has full custody of her daughter, Micah, nine.
She says: “Once released I fought like hell to get on my feet and fight for custody. I stayed sober, worked two jobs, got an apartment and a car etc and now… full custody.”
Listing just some of her achievements since getting out, she describes herself as: “9 years in recovery, built a successful brand, tedx speaker, content creator and proud mumma.”
In a series of videos shared to her TikTok page and YouTube channel, Jessica admits that she was “terrified” of her baby dying when she gave birth inside.
Recalling just how tough it was to go through labour in the conditions she did, Jessica claims she was chained to a bed for two days and guards only unchained her and allowed her to wee “four times” in that two-day period.
Speaking of the “healing” process in one video, Jessica claimed: “It was brutal and dehumanising and embarrassing and painful.
“The prison made me wrap my breasts in bandages to stop the milk coming in, I was engorged, I was in pain – I’d have to scream into a pillow the pain was so bad. I wasn’t given a breast pump, I wasn’t given any kind of advice on how to deal with that.”
She alleged: “I was also denied everything the hospital sent home with me for aftercare and that was horrible. I bled for a long time… not just physically, but psychologically, I was in excruciating pain.
“I have PTSD from that experience. Some women tried to help me the best that they could… my body was overcoming giving birth while chained to a bed, my mental health was the worst it’s ever been and I just want to note here that I was denied access to walk around the hospital room to properly heal.
“The officers would not let me out of that bed. I was kept in bed for two days chained to the bed, I wasn’t allowed to get up and walk around and that slowed my healing process as well. By the time I was finally able to get up, I limped. My body just felt broken… I don’t know how I made it through.”
Since leaving prison, Jessica has turned her life around and is now a mum to two children, including her daughter after winning back full custody.
She shared that she still talks to her daughter’s foster family and credited them for being “amazing”.
Jessica also revealed that she’s honest with her little girl, Micah – who is aware that she was born in prison and why her mum ended up in jail in the first place – and they have very honest conversations about her past and mental health.
Her videos have racked up thousands of comments between them, with people praising Jessica for getting back on track.
“Happy to hear you achieved so much after getting out, especially being able to get your daughter back. Keep up the positive work queen,” commented one person.
Another said: “This is amazing. I used to be an inpatient corrections nurse and my heart always broke for our post-partum momma’s. Babies should never be separated.”
Others were moved by her experience, with a third posting: “I’ve watched this so many times now and I can’t stop crying.”
