Still, despite the correctional system's efforts to accommodate motherhood, there's no escaping the atmosphere of imprisonment. One study on New York prison nurseries found that:

forming bonds with other mothers is often difficult for mothers in the prison nursery program. Because the program is inside a correctional facility, the mothers are involuntarily together and are subjected to an atmosphere of observation, suspicion and discipline. Often these mothers face post-release conditions where contact between each other is prohibited. These circumstances can foster negative isolation rather than positive socialization.

Overall, the Women's Prison Association found that nursery-based programs can protect families from some of the most corrosive emotional effects of incarceration—helping women develop self-confidence and skills as parents and fostering bonds that are critical to childhood development. Yet the organization emphasized community-based alternatives, as even the most family-friendly facility can't offer a full range of educational and social resources. The successes of some prison nurseries show that family bonds can still flourish despite the coldness of incarceration. But these outcomes make a stronger case for reforms aimed at keeping criminal justice-involved families in their communities—so that whenever possible, with or without her baby, a mother never has to spend a day behind bars.

Image: Wee Ones Nursery unit at the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis. (AP)