Birth Justice for Incarcerated Individuals – Tania Ruiz’s Story

In 2022, the Colorado Equity Compass (CEC) awarded 20 organizations and community groups across Colorado $2,000 to share the stories of Colorado residents working to fight inequities related to the social determinants of health (SDOH), which determine an individual’s capacity for health, wellbeing, and longevity.

One of those organizations is Elephant Circle, a birth justice organization dedicated to bringing an intersectional, feminist, reproductive justice, design thinking approach to achieving it, the organization works to fight the incarceration of pregnant people in Colorado.

Inspired by elephants who give birth within a circle of support, Elephant Circle believes birth justice happens when everyone is equally capable of self-determination during the perinatal period, and when their self-determination is supported and amplified. To achieve this, we employ strategies for tackling systems of power and oppression, strategies for change and resilience, and expertise in health systems, legal systems, and the perinatal period.

We are community-led and use an intersectional, feminist, reproductive justice, midwifery model of care, design thinking approach to our work. This approach manifests solutions that do not re-inscribe status-quo power dynamics, is tailored to individual contexts, rooted in community, and are based on relationship and deep listening.  

In the United States, incarceration rates of people with the capacity for pregnancy are climbing faster than for any other demographic. The number of families experiencing this particular intersection is growing, but policy and procedures are not being informed by people with lived experience.

Birth justice for incarcerated individuals has been core to Elephant Circle since our inception in 2009. In 2010, we worked with COLOR to make Colorado the 25th state to pass a law prohibiting shackling during labor. From 2009-2014, EC facilitated a group for survivors of intimate partner violence at DWCF. Elephant Circle was central to the development and growth of the Denver Health Doula Program, volunteer doulas who support folks giving birth at Denver Health who are also experiencing incarceration.

In 2021, Elephant Circle led the successful effort to pass the landmark perinatal human rights bill, “Protecting Pregnant People during the Perinatal Period,” (SB-193). Nearly half of the provisions in this bill establish basic standards for Coloradans who are pregnant or parenting while incarcerated. This original story and its accompanying artwork are the work of Tania Ruiz. She describes her experience with pregnancy, birth, and incarceration. Her story and artwork reflect the impact of several social determinants of health including Built Environment, Economic Stability, Education, Environment, Health & Healthcare, Food, Health and Medical Care, Social Context, and Social Connection.