~Babies Behind Bars~

I'm not 100% sure on how to feel about this show.  To give a little back-story, the TLC 2 part series takes place in a prison.  This prison is where 60 out of 600 of the inmates are pregnant offenders and about 10 of those women will get the opportunity to live in a wing of the prison called "The Baby Dorm" whereas the women can serve their prison term while still serving their prison sentence and keep their babies.  Here's more information from http://www.ivillage.com/must-watch-tv-tlcs-babies-behind-bars/6-a-326648

"Of the 600 prisoners, about 60 are pregnant. Those inmates are vying for just 10 spots in the "baby dorm," which allows select inmates a chance to serve their sentence with their babies. It's part of a radical new project called the Wee Ones Program, and the goal is to give moms an opportunity to bond with their babies and, more importantly, avoid repeat offenses. Getting into the program isn't easy; stringent criteria must be met and inmates who aren't selected must surrender their babies within 24 hours of birth. (Yes, it's as horrible as it sounds.)

Watching a toddler get a pat-down was beyond strange, and seeing baby dorm hopeful Bobbie give birth to her eighth child and wonder whether her crack addiction had affected her baby was heart wrenching. 

No doubt, these babies are starting out with the odds stacked against them. But if this program helps these women be better mothers and lowers the rate of repeat incarcerations -- which is 30 percent -- those wee ones will have caught their first lucky break."


Now, back to what I was saying... I hope that this program does what it's set out to do but I feel funny knowing that these babies are locked up but I guess the bottom line is that it's only 10 inmates and that at least these babies can bond with their mommies... I may seem to straddle the fence a bit but there is no one way for me to feel about this particular two part series... Interesting``````````