APPLETON WI - A practice of shackling pregnant prison inmates during childbirth has been officially replaced by a policy that bans the restraints in Wisconsin prisons except when security reasons require their use.

The written policy comes six months after state Corrections Secretary Matt Frank ordered the practice of shackling prisoners during childbirth stopped at prisons, including Taycheedah Correctional Institution near Fond du Lac.

With the new policy, "the intent is to achieve a balance between the humane treatment of inmates with legitimate safety concerns," said John Dipko, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections.

The department declined to release a copy of the written policy, which took effect July 13, citing security concerns.

But officials released a memo from Steve Casperson, administrator of the agency's Division of Adult Institutions, to Frank summarizing the changes.

According to the memo, inmates about to give birth and immediately after giving birth are not to be placed in restraints "unless there are security reasons that require restraint."

An inmate determined to be a risk to herself or others can be restrained if top administrators give prior approval.

"There is going to be a high level of oversight to ensure that inmates are not unnecessarily restrained," Dan Westfield, the division's security chief, said Wednesday.

In the memo, Casperson said that since Frank's verbal order, 15 inmates safely delivered babies in medical facilities, and there were no security problems.

He also said the prison system had increased the minimum number of officers who escort a pregnant inmate to a hospital.

State Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, a member of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Corrections and Privacy, said the new policy sounds more rational than the old one, which he previously called "cruel and degrading."

The new rules "should have been in place earlier, in my opinion," he said.