Babies Behind Bars: Photos

A handful of U.S. prisons allow babies to live with their moms.

ByABC News

May 26, 2016, 1:17 PM

Jennifer Dumas plays with her daughter, Codylynn inside her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y., April 12, 2016. Bedford Hills is one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country.
Julie Jacobson/AP Photo

 -- What happens when a pregnant woman is arrested and sent to prison?

The vast majority of inmate moms are separated from their infants once they are born. But a few of the new mothers are able to keep their babies with them in prison nurseries, some until they are 18 months old.

PHOTO: Katie Young, an inmate at the Decatur Correctional Center, plays with her baby, Marissa, in the prison nursery where they live, in Decatur, Ill., May 18, 2016. — Katie Young, an inmate at the Decatur Correctional Center, plays with her baby, Marissa, in the prison nursery where they live, in Decatur, Ill., May 18, 2016. The Decatur Correctional Center in Illinois opened a nursery in 2007, and 73 moms and 69 babies have participated.
Teresa Crawford/AP Photo

The oldest prison nursery program is run at New York's Bedford Correctional Facility for Women, north of New York City. Seven other women's prisons have similar programs.

Jennifer Dumas answers questions during an interview while holding her daughter, Codylynn, in a playroom at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y., April 12, 2016.
Julie Jacobson/AP Photo

Jennifer Dumas looks out the window with her daughter, Codylynn, inside her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y., April 12, 2016.
Julie Jacobson/AP Photo

PHOTO: Jennifer Dumas plays with her daughter, Codylynn inside her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y. — Jennifer Dumas plays with her daughter, Codylynn inside her room at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, in Bedford Hills, N.Y., April 12, 2016. Bedford Hills is one of only eight working prison nurseries where women live with their babies, out of more than 100 women's prisons around the country.
Julie Jacobson/AP Photo

In 2014, ABC News "Nightline" spent nine months following Jacqueline McDougall and her son Max at Bedford Correctional Facility.

McDougall said she believed it was a help to her. "I think seeing his little face every day and know that I have to take care of him is going to be a big incentive for me. Definitely," McDougall told "Nightline."

Dr. Janet Stockheim, a pediatrician who comes every two weeks to check up on the babies in the prison, including Max, said it can benefit a baby, too, to be raised behind bars.

"The babies aren't aware. They get excellent care," Stockheim said. "They are very well bonded to the mothers."

"Bonding gives a baby trust in the world that they will be taken care of," she added. "The babies do better here than they would on the outside, with some of these mothers."