United States, Aug. 2025: Women Beyond Walls, the global podcast on women and incarceration, has released a new episode featuring Pamela Winn, an activist from Atlanta, Georgia, whose personal experience of pregnancy and miscarriage in prison has galvanised reforms across the United States.

A registered nurse, Winn was incarcerated in her mid-30s while pregnant. She endured shackling, medical neglect, and ultimately a miscarriage while in custody. “There was no way I was going to allow anybody to put me to sleep. I had to be here to tell my own story,” Winn said.

Following her release, Winn founded Restore Her USA, an organisation supporting women of colour impacted by the criminal legal system. She successfully advocated for laws banning shackling and solitary confinement for pregnant women in 26 U.S. states, and introduced the Women’s Care Act, which allows women to give birth outside prison before serving their sentence.

“Although retelling my story is hurtful and traumatic, it is very necessary,” Winn stated. “I have dedicated my life to protecting every woman and their child impacted by these systems.”

Podcast host Sabrina Mahtani, a human rights lawyer and activist, said Winn’s story reflects a global crisis: “Pregnant women face devastating conditions in prisons worldwide. Pamela’s courage is a call to action to ensure dignity, justice, and alternatives to incarceration.”

Listen to the full episode here or on all major podcast platforms.