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Pregnant Women

A person wearing a blue uniform and black messenger bag walks toward the entrance of a hospital with a blue sign that reads, "Virtua Health Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital."
Closing Argument October 5
Drug Testing of Pregnant Patients Is Discriminatory, Lawsuit Claims
The Marshall Project recently investigated how faulty drug tests at hospitals lead to pregnant women being reported to authorities and at times separated from their children.
By
Susan Horton, a White woman wearing a black tank top, arranges her children’s toys on top of a table.
Feature September 9
She Ate a Poppy Seed Salad Just Before Giving Birth. Then They Took Her Baby Away.
Hospitals use drug tests that return false positives from poppy seed bagels, decongestants and Zantac. Yet newborns are being taken from parents based on the results.
By
Three items are arranged on a white surface: a salad in a white bowl, a copy of a sonogram, and a printout of positive drug test results.
News September 7
You’re About to Deliver Your Baby. This Faulty Drug Test Could Take Your Newborn Away.
Listen to our investigation into how hospitals use unreliable test results to report parents to child welfare agencies.
By The Marshall Project
Jules Werkheiser, a White person wearing a leather jacket, with her wife, Samantha, a White woman wearing a blue floral dress, and their son, Julius.
Life Inside July 19
Love Beyond Bars: Jules and Samantha
Jules and Samantha Werkheiser fought their wrongful convictions for over a decade. Here’s their journey of survival — and motherhood — in pictures.
Photographs by Camille Farrah Lenain
As-told-to by
A White woman, wearing a white tank top and a label that reads "Forced motherhood is female enslavement," yells while holding a sign that reads, "Stop the war on bodily autonomy." People are protesting in the background.
Closing Argument June 1
How Abortion’s Legal Landscape Post-Roe is Causing Fear and Confusion
We spoke with seven reproductive rights organizations — here’s what we found.
By and
A magazine called News Inside set against a grainy tan backdrop. Light refracted through prison bars shines onto the magazine.
News Inside March 22
Her Story
Issue 16 highlights women’s experiences in the U.S. criminal justice system.
By
Amanda Aguilar, a woman with light-toned skin and red hair, wears a red tank top and denim shorts while sitting on a lawn chair outside her home.
Feature February 14
Medical Marijuana Is Legal, But Oklahoma Is Charging Women for Using It While Pregnant
Courts are set to decide if using the drug during pregnancy is a crime, even as a growing number of women in the state face prosecution.
By Brianna Bailey, The Frontier
Jessica Jackson goes through a pile of photos and paperwork that documented her life before and after her parental rights were taken away, while sitting in her living room in Conway, S.C. on August 11, 2023. Jackson tested positive for drugs while she was pregnant with her daughter. Under South Carolina policies, she ended up losing her parental rights and was placed on a child abuse registry. Only one of her children lives nearby, with the others living in other states.
Feature December 4, 2023
Pregnant Women in South Carolina Face Severe Consequences for Using Drugs
Some doctors and lawyers contend the prosecutions are based on faulty science.
By Jocelyn Grzeszczak and Eva Herscowitz, The Post and Courier
Life Inside November 17, 2023
Being a Corrections Officer Is Hard Enough. Doing the Job While Pregnant Is a Nightmare.
Lia McKeown says a California prison refused to adjust her job duties to accommodate her pregnancies. Now she’s suing for discrimination.
By Lia McKeown as told to
A layered collage illustration shows Monroe County sheriff’s investigator Spencer Woods in black and white. Behind him is an image of the Monroe County Detention Facility with a written guilty plea for the charge of child abuse, with “took drugs” in parentheses. On the left of the image is a baby ultrasound on an orange background. Underneath the ultrasound is an excerpt of court documents from the State of Mississippi.
Feature November 16, 2023
They Were Prosecuted for Using Drugs While Pregnant. But It May Not Have Been a Crime
Dozens of women in Mississippi have been charged with child abuse crimes that, based on existing state law, they may not have committed.
By Anna Wolfe, Mississippi Today
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