Left: An 8 month old baby girl is supported by Andrea
Cristina as she takes her early steps towards her mother, an inmate at the
creche.
Despite the age limit of six months, some inmate's children live in the premisses
for up to a year and in some rare cases much longer. Right: Rita de Cassia
looks at her photo album with pictures taken when she was free.
At the prison’s crèche babies are allowed to stay with their mothers until they are six months of age, after that they either go to a family member or to an institution, until their mothers are free. Many babies at Talavera Bruce are born HIV positive for which they undergo treatment to revert their condition. Talavera Bruce prison has so far had a 100% success rate in its treatment programme for the infants. Rita de Cassia says: "They are kind to us here, but I don’t understand why we have to be chained to a bed after giving birth to our babies."
