We welcome the opportunity to comment on sentencing guidelines for pregnant and post-natal women. We also want to comment on sentencing policy more generally as it relates to women, mothers in particular. Sentencing policy is inherently sexist: it treats women as if we were men, ignoring the fact that we get pregnant and give birth and are the primary carers for children, and it ignores and undermines the unique and precious bond between mother and child. This MUST be taken into account during sentencing but it rarely is. Prison is NOT and will never be a safe place for pregnant women and new-borns.