Birth Companions submission to the Sentencing Council consultation 2023

In September 2023, the Sentencing Council opened a consultation on several amendments to the guidelines judges and magistrates use to decide criminal sentences fairly and consistently. Included in this consultation is a proposed mitigating factor relating to pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period - a vital opportunity to make the case for radically reducing the use of custodial sentences for perinatal women. The consultation runs until 30th November 2023.

Today, Birth Companions shares its final submission to this important consultation, drawing on over 27 years experience supporting perinatal women in prison, and campaigning for the end of the use of imprisonment for pregnant women and mothers of infants. 

Birth Companions’ submission can be downloaded here, outlining our response to the proposed mitigating factor relating to pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period, including revisions to the draft, and comments shared by members of our Lived Experience Team. Our submission also provides brief responses to a number of other questions in the consultation.