Other Titles
Do No Harm: Illuminating Instances of Punitive Approaches to Care in Perinatal Settings in Canada [Title Slide]
Abstract
Carceral perinatal care is the provision of coercive or punishing care by clinicians during the perinatal period (1). Whether intentional or driven by licensure/policy demands, clinicians have been implicated in the provision of punitive care for pregnant and parenting patients (1-4).
Purpose: The Do No Harm project aims to thoroughly understand carceral instances of clinical practices across the perinatal continuum of care to develop abolitionist solutions that are equitable, person-centred, and trauma-responsive. Abolitionist solutions reimagine prevention, intervention and healing ways of accountability that do not cause further harm (5).
Methods: Informed by the Reproductive Justice Framework (6) and Abolitionist Feminism (3) the Do No Harm project includes a scoping study and law and policy reviews to understand the landscape of contributing factors in relation to punitive care in perinatal settings across Canada. Findings from the scoping study and reviews informed development of a qualitative study including focus groups with nurses, midwives and social workers in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from nursing, law, policy, Mad studies, psychology, and social work collectively analyzed the data with community partners with lived experience of carceral care, using a critical thematic approach.
Findings: This presentation reviews study findings across all project components to expose the intersecting factors influencing punitive care in perinatal settings and propose abolitionist solutions to care. Project results demonstrate the pervasive role of power across law, policy, and interdisciplinary relationships that collectively encourage nurses and other clinicians to enact punitive care strategies that are carceral in nature.
Conclusions: Abolitionist solutions must target both law and policy while educating nurses and other clinicians on the impact of punctuative care on patient wellness and long-term health outcomes.
Notes
References:
1. Brinkley-Rubinstein, L., Berk, J., Williams, B.A., 2025. Carceral health care. The New England Journal of Medicine. 392 (9), 892-901.
2. Abdillahi, I., 2022. Black Women Under State: Surveillance, poverty, and the violence of social assistance. ARP Books.
3. Pendleton, M., Detlaff, A.J., 2024. Policing is Reproductive Oppression: How policing and carceral systems criminalize parenting and maintain reproductive oppression. Social Sciences. 13 (10), 515-532.
4. Logan, R. G., McLemore, M. R., Julian, Z., Stoll, K., Malhotra, N., GVtM Steering Council, & Vedam, S. (2022). Coercion and non consent during birth and newborn care in the United States. Birth, 49(4), 749-762.
5. Davis, A., Dent, G., Meiners, E.R., Richie, B.E., 2022. Abolition. Feminism. Now. Haymarket Books.
6. Ross, L., Solinger, R., 2017. Reproductive Justice. University of California Press.
Sigma Membership
Phi Gamma (Virtual)
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Ethics, Health Equity or Social Determinants of Health, Interprofessional and Interdisciplinary, Perinatal Care, Medical Care of Prisoners, Carceral Perinatal Care, Canada
Recommended Citation
Wright, Amy L.; Rinaldi, Jen; Abdillahi, Idil; Zoldan, Yann; Smith, Julia; Hudon, Emilie; and Munro, Lauren, "Illuminating Instances of Punitive Approaches to Care in Perinatal Settings in Canada" (2026). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 185.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2026/presentations_2026/185
Conference Name
37th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-08-22
Illuminating Instances of Punitive Approaches to Care in Perinatal Settings in Canada
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Carceral perinatal care is the provision of coercive or punishing care by clinicians during the perinatal period (1). Whether intentional or driven by licensure/policy demands, clinicians have been implicated in the provision of punitive care for pregnant and parenting patients (1-4).
Purpose: The Do No Harm project aims to thoroughly understand carceral instances of clinical practices across the perinatal continuum of care to develop abolitionist solutions that are equitable, person-centred, and trauma-responsive. Abolitionist solutions reimagine prevention, intervention and healing ways of accountability that do not cause further harm (5).
Methods: Informed by the Reproductive Justice Framework (6) and Abolitionist Feminism (3) the Do No Harm project includes a scoping study and law and policy reviews to understand the landscape of contributing factors in relation to punitive care in perinatal settings across Canada. Findings from the scoping study and reviews informed development of a qualitative study including focus groups with nurses, midwives and social workers in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. An interdisciplinary team of researchers from nursing, law, policy, Mad studies, psychology, and social work collectively analyzed the data with community partners with lived experience of carceral care, using a critical thematic approach.
Findings: This presentation reviews study findings across all project components to expose the intersecting factors influencing punitive care in perinatal settings and propose abolitionist solutions to care. Project results demonstrate the pervasive role of power across law, policy, and interdisciplinary relationships that collectively encourage nurses and other clinicians to enact punitive care strategies that are carceral in nature.
Conclusions: Abolitionist solutions must target both law and policy while educating nurses and other clinicians on the impact of punctuative care on patient wellness and long-term health outcomes.
Description
Carceral perinatal care is punitive or coercive care delivered by clinicians, whether intentional or driven by licensure/policy demands. The Do No Harm project aims to understand carceral care across the perinatal continuum of care to develop abolitionist solutions that are equitable, person-centred, and trauma-responsive. Abolitionist solutions reimagine prevention, intervention and healing ways of accountability that do not cause further harm.