A MUM has shared an insight into what it is like to be pregnant in prison and how she protected herself.
Jodie was jailed for stealing £20,000 from the bank where she worked – money that happened to belong to an elderly man with Alzheimer’s – to fund her gambling addiction.

However, she insisted she didn’t know that the account she was taking it from belonged to “an elderly gentleman who has Alzheimer’s.”
But taking to her TikTok account @jodieandjail,’ she revealed that she ended up in prison pregnant at the age of 21.
Speaking to her 20,000 followers, Jodie shared a video talking about what it’s like to feel hungry in prison.
She says: “In 2011, when I was pregnant and hungry in prison, it was a horrible feeling.
“I would only leave my cell when I got unlocked at meal times. I would go out, get my dinner, then come back to my cell and eat it.
“I wouldn’t rub shoulders with anyone because I was too scared to. I was only 21 years old and heavily pregnant. I didn’t want to walk alongside people.
“I was so scared and worried, so I just wanted to stay behind my door and keep my son as safe as I possibly could because I was scared of everybody.
“Food played a big part because, obviously, I was heavily pregnant.
“I was theoretically feeding two of us, and whilst they do give you a little bit more food, once you are locked up behind your door at lock-up, you’d have no access to food.
“You obviously have water, but feeling hungry at night and not being able to do anything about it is really not a nice feeling.”
Jodie explained that prisoners could never request extra food or just “nip to the kitchen for a bag of crisps or a piece of fruit.”
She adds: “You can’t just ring your bell and ask for food because it doesn’t work like that.
“What you can do is, each week, there’s something called a canteen where you can purchase stuff like super noodles, crisps, or biscuits to keep in your room.”
Jodie’s sentence finished four days before she gave birth.
UK Prison Brides
- Tracey Bottomley married double murderer Ernest Otto Smith in the US after meeting through a prison pen pal initiative. Tracey, from West Yorks, knew he had been given a life sentence with no possibility of parole
- Rebecca Short, from Oxfordshire, told her family she was on holiday in the US in 2022. Little did they know she was marrying double murderer Manuel Ovate Jr, who was on death row
- Paula Williamson, an actress who appeared on Hollyoaks and Emmerdale, married the infamous Charles Bronson in 2017 after they became penpals
- Karen Charves married Kenny Richey while he was on death row in 2014. He had been convicted for starting a fire in 1986 that killed his ex-girlfriend’s daughter, aged two. Karen and Kenny’s union did not last and she claimed he was abusive.
- Naomi Wise, from Essex, married Victor Oquendo, nicknamed Animal, while he was serving a 24-year prison term in a US jail. They split up in 2022 but have now rekindled their romance
She continues: “I wasn’t in there long enough to be able to get a canteen because it takes a couple of weeks to set up, and the money coming in takes a while as well.
“So, I never had extra food in my cell.
“I would sneak an extra piece of fruit at dinner time if I needed it.
“But that feeling – I remember feeling hungry – was never a nice feeling, and I don’t think any pregnant woman at such a late gestational stage should ever feel hungry.
“That was quite scary, not knowing whether my child was getting enough nutrients that he needed because I wasn’t eating as much as maybe I should have.
“Maybe it was available to me, but I didn’t find that out. They pretty much didn’t really care for me that much.

“They just sort of shut me behind my door and forgot about me because I was quiet, kept to myself, and didn’t cause any trouble.
“I just scurried along and scurried back. I was an easy prisoner for them.”
Jodie didn’t have any friends in 2011 on her wing who would give her food.
However, Jodie went back to prison again in 2016.
She says: “When I was in prison in 2016 and there were pregnant women on our wing, we would all club together and give them extra to make sure they were getting everything they needed and weren’t hungry.
“For me, in 2011, that wasn’t a thing. That wasn’t a very nice experience.”
Being in prison whilst pregnant and hungry, horrible time of my life, lying wide awake most of the night due to hunger
TikTok comment
Her video gained over 194,000 views with 140 people rushing to the comments section to share their thoughts.
One wrote: “I would have thought you would have been assigned a buddy to look after you and show you the ropes!
“It’s sad you were put in there and made to feel so isolated while you were very vulnerable.”
To which Jodie replied: “I think maybe if I was doing a longer stretch that would have been the case, as it was in 2016… but not for my short sentence.”
A second added: “I’m sorry you went through this.”
But Jodie replied with: “So unfair on the unborn child. But it’s a prison for criminals, not a hotel.”
A third added: “I was in this situation not long ago.
“Being in prison whilst pregnant and hungry, horrible time of my life, lying wide awake most of the night due to hunger.”
Assaults in women's prisons
Women’s prisons in the UK are now the most violent they have ever been, with assaults tripling in a decade.
In the year to September, the 3600 strong women’s prison state saw a total of 1630 assaults.
This is much higher than the rate in men’s prisons, which is 40% lower.
Although serious violence has historically been much worse in men’s prisons, it is now almost identical, with 39 of last year’s 110 assaults directed at prison staff.
Source: PA