The French justice minister Mr Dominique Perben has criticised prison guards who handcuffed a woman prisoner to her hospital bed while she gave birth on New Year's Day.
"It should not happen again," Mr Perben told RMC radio. "Things should be handled differently, it's absurd.
"I was present for the birth of my own children, so I can understand the astonishment of those reading about this story," the father-of-three said.
The Paris-based International Prison Observatory (OIP) said the prisoner had been handcuffed - despite vociferous protests from medical staff - after she had refused to allow a member of the prison escort to attend the birth.
The OIP, an independent prisoners' rights pressure group, said prison rules in force for more than 40 years stated a prisoner should only be handcuffed during medical treatment if considered to pose a security risk.
"We don't want Mr Perben to ask for details, we want him to give instructions," said the OIP's Francois Bes. Socialist deputy Julien Dray has raised the matter with a state watchdog that monitors the behaviour of law enforcement agencies, he said.