In 43 imprisoned women in Berlin, the authors investigated the situation in which imprisoned women find themselves when they are pregnant, with particular reference to pregnancy, delivery and puerperium. A control group of 172 women was examined parallel to this study. It was evident that the imprisoned women had significantly more complications with regard to the course of their pregnancy and delivery, including the condition of the newborn. An analysis of the individual data yielded, for the majority of the women, a worsening of their primarily poor social and mental condition, i.e. an aggravation caused by the imprisonment. It was the aim of this study to formulate, first of all, appropriate suggestions for lowering infantile and maternal morbidity in this risk group. One of the factors examined in this connection was a possible overall change in law enforcement (imprisonment) practice (for example, suspension of imprisonment according to paragraph 455/455a, 3 of the Federal German Code of Criminal Procedure, 1981, or rescission of imprisonment). Secondly, the authors recommend more intensive care during pregnancy and delivery, taking into account the experiences collected and presented in this article.