There are 49 children living inside Penitenciaria Nacional Femenina de Adaptación Social (PNFAS), a women-only prison in Tamara, about 40km from the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. Inmates are allowed to keep their children with them until they are four years old. Some children move in with their mothers when they are sentenced, but many more are born inside jail

Iris and her husband, a former police officer, were convicted of kidnapping. Her husband and the couple’s two accomplices were sentenced to 20 years in jail. Iris is serving 16 years. With conjugal visits allowed, she has twice become pregnant while serving her sentence. Her older son, Roberto, stayed with her in prison until he was four and now lives with his father’s family. Her younger son Henry (pictured in a blue T-shirt) is still with her

Iris runs a small shop from her prison cell, selling food, drinks and clothing. Mothers and children are housed separately from other inmates, in better accommodation. They also get slightly better food

Julia, also known as ‘La China’, was convicted of robbery with her husband. She is serving her fourth term in prison. Upon each release she returns to live on the streets. Her younger child sits in a pram in the bathroom. She is pregnant with her second child

Women make up about 4.3% of the total prison population in Honduras, according to World Prison Brief. Crimes committed by the women held in Tamara include theft, extortion, possession and trafficking of drugs, kidnapping and murder

A baby sleeps in his pram in the prison nursery. Contraception is mandatory at the facility and all the women are supposed to be on the pill. But some bribe the guards or do not take their pills so that they get pregnant and are moved to the separate wing

Susana was convicted of drug trafficking and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Her son stayed with her until he turned four, at which point he went to live with family and Susana was transferred to a mixed prison. Honduras has 29 prisons. Three are men-only and 25 are classified as mixed, which means they have a separate annex for women. Susana’s daughter, Lina, was conceived in prison

A baby plays behind bars. Jail is considered a relatively safe place for the children to grow up. Many of the women in the country’s prisons are involved in gangs. Often, they were brought up in abusive environments

Toys are laid out in the prison’s nursery, ready for the children to play with. Many women prefer the family prison to other jails. Human rights groups have warned of overcrowding, violence, inadequate nutrition and poor sanitation in the country’s prisons

Wendy Gomez Guzmen, 26, with her son, who is three. He will leave the prison in eight months. Guzmen was sentenced to 11 years in prison for extortion. She has two other daughters, aged 11 and eight, who live outside the jail

Yojanna, 40, holds five-day old Layla Sussette. Yojanna, a hairdresser, is serving 30 years for extortion. The father of another child is a member of the M18 gang

Although the prison has a nursery and playground, there are no teachers

‘La Chola’ watches her daughter play as a prison guard looks on. She was transferred from another prison when she became pregnant. She is serving time for extortion. She is aligned with the M18, but says she is not an active gang member

Children and their mothers on visiting day

Claudia Maria Valezquez, 28, is eight months pregnant. She is incarcerated along with her mother (seated behind her). She was born as a result of her mother’s rape. Her husband is an M18 member. She has a 10-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter, who now live with her family. She got involved with the gangs when she was 14. She is serving four years for smuggling marijuana into a prison and 15 years for murder, although she denies killing anyone