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| Pregnant in jail: what it's like, what it costs |
| By wbir.com |
| Published: 11/10/2009 |
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In just under 25 years, the number of female inmates in Knox County has grown from 20 to almost 300. The increasing numbers mean the Knox County Sheriff's Office faces an issue that was rather rare in the 1980s -- pregnancy in custody. Every woman brought under Knox County Sheriff's Office custody eventually sits in one of the Detention Facility medical exam rooms. "We're required by state statute, that any inmate that comes in our facility, whether it be female or male, that they have a physical within a 14-day window," said Rodney Bivens, Chief of Corrections for the Knox County Sheriff's Office. Part of that physical includes a pregnancy test. "When we do that, a lot of times, we're the ones who tell them they're pregnant. They don't know until they get here," Chief Bivens said. "We get them from where they don't know about it on up to eight months pregnant or even further," said Dorothy Pinkston, Chief Administrator for Medical Services at the Knox County Sheriff's Office. Once the pregnancy tests come back positive, the special care begins. "Our concern becomes that fetus. Our goal is protecting that child," said Sara Edmonds, Director of Nursing for the Knox County Sheriff's Office Detention Facility. Read More. |
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