The head of Britain's prison service promised yesterday to review the policy of shackling pregnant prisoners in hospital after an outcry over the practice.
Mr Richard Tilt, speaking after a meeting with the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) president Ms Caroline Flint, acknowledged that restraining expectant mothers was a sensitive matter. An emergency parliamentary debate took place last week after the shackling was made public in a television programme. Meanwhile, the Prisons Minister, Ms Ann Widdecombe, offered the of Commons her "unreserved apology" for misinform MPs that the hospital had not raised concerns over the practice.
