Louise Powell was serving a short sentence in Styal prison in 2020 when she went into labour in a prison toilet. She begged prison staff for an ambulance, but her pain was ignored until it was too late. After enduring hours of excruciating pain without specialist assistance or pain relief, she gave birth to a baby girl, Brooke, who showed no signs of life.

Louise has lived every mother’s worst nightmare at the hands of the prison system. To speak her truth and reveal her identity in the national press in the face of so much loss and grief is a remarkably courageous thing to do.

If you have a message of love and support for Louise, please share it below. Level Up will pass these on to her lawyer.

Thank you for taking the time to stand in solidarity with Louise.
We live in a society that wants to make women in the criminal justice system invisible and disposable. It is a bold and revolutionary act of feminism to empathise with and stand in solidarity with women in prison.