Special Report-As more women fill America’s jails, medical tragedies mount

An exterior view of the Milwaukee County Jail in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., December 8, 2020. Picture taken December 8, 2020. To match Special Report USA-JAILS/WOMEN REUTERS/Eileen Meslar

(Reuters) - By the time anyone at the Milwaukee County Jail noticed Shade Swayzer had given birth alone in a filthy cell, her baby was dead.

Swayzer had arrived a week earlier, on July 6, 2016, picked up after a dispute with a hotel clerk and charged with disorderly conduct and a parole violation from an old burglary conviction. She was clearly pregnant, just a few weeks from her due date, and police had her evaluated at a hospital before bringing her to jail. The fetus was deemed active and healthy, and Swayzer cleared for detention.