Last week Clean Break joined the Lost Mothers project at an event launching their urgent new policy briefing, hosted by Carolyn Harris MP.
The Lost Mothers project is an award winning University of Hertfordshire research project exploring the effects of mandatory separation of babies from women in the criminal justice system.
Their latest policy briefing highlights the 'release gap' they have found pregnant women and mothers face, referring to the loss of continuity of care the point of release from custody. Two-hundred pregnant women pass through prison in England each year. On release, support often just disappears with no housing and no named professional in place.
The briefing comes after significant wins in the campaign to end the imprisonment of pregnant women, and draws on evidence to call for a fully funded national pathway for women ensuring appropriate support and safe release in the community for all pregnant women and mothers.
Alongside a keynote from research lead Professor Laura Abbott and a rich panel discussion from Birth Companions, Treasures Foundation, One Small Thing and the National Women's Justice Coalition, Clean Break presented extracts from our play Scenes from Lost Mothers written by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti. Gurpreet has also written our upcoming play Baby, which continues the conversation on maternal separation and imprisonment, and will premier at Brixton House this October.
Whether you were at the event last week, wanted to be, or are just interested in the issue and want to help, the Lost Mothers project have put together a short email template you can use to write to your own MP, it only takes a couple of minutes.
Please share to help this reach as many people as possible. If you do hear back from your MP, the research team would love to see the response. Please share with lostmothers@herts.ac.uk so they can keep track of how this is landing across Parliament.
How to use this email template
The template is entirely optional and easy to personalise – a line or two on why this matters to you makes it stronger.
Copy and paste the email below
Dear [MP’s name],
I am writing as a constituent to raise an issue highlighted at a parliamentary event on 16th July 2026, hosted by Carolyn Harris MP, which launched a new policy brief on the ‘release gap’.
The release gap is the point at which continuity of care breaks down for pregnant and postnatal women at the moment of release from custody. Women leaving detained settings while pregnant or in the early postnatal period frequently lose continuity of midwifery and social care at precisely the moment they need it most, and many are released without safe or appropriate housing. This has direct consequences for maternal and infant safety.
The policy brief draws on findings from the Lost Mothers Project, an ESRC-funded national study of the separation of mothers and babies at birth in the criminal justice system, led by Professor Laura Abbott at the University of Hertfordshire, delivered in partnership with the charity Birth Companions and shaped throughout by a team of experts by lived experience. The event brought together the National Women’s Justice Coalition, Treasures Foundation, One Small Thing/Hope Street, Birth Companions, and Clean Break Theatre Company.
The brief – Closing the Release Gap Policy, sets out specific actions that MPs can take to help close the release gap. I would ask that you read it and support these actions, including raising the issue with the relevant minister.
[Add a sentence here on why this matters to you, or any specific ask – e.g. requesting a meeting or asking your MP to sign an Early Day Motion if one exists.]
I would be grateful for your support on this issue and would welcome a response.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address – MPs generally only respond to constituents]
