The German prison service runs a jail for women with children up to the age of six - there are no bars on the windows and no handcuffs when they go out.
It's a model which has been copied in a number of countries across the world. But not in Britain.
At present, only toddlers under the age of 18 months can stay together with their mothers and the places are limited - under 70 across the country.
Philippa Budgen went to meet staff, inmates and children at Frondenberg prison in North West Germany.
