Prison Baby Shower

From the Chicago Tribune:

State lawmakers will host a baby shower at the Indiana Women's Prison in Indianapolis.

Legislators also will eat lunch prepared by some of the inmates Wednesday.

The state Department of Correction says Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, and Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, solicited gifts from other lawmakers after members of a women's caucus became interested in the Wee Ones Nursery at the prison. The gifts will be presented Wednesday.

The program for pregnant offenders began in early 2008 and is one of six similar programs in the nation. It provides parenting education and is aimed at strengthening the mother-infant bond.

To live with their newborns in the separate unit, mothers must have never been convicted of violent crimes and have less than 18 months left on their sentences.