This article is part of the investigation The bodies of exception. Maternity and childhood in jail. The field work was carried out at the prison Complejo Carcelario y Penitenciario Pedregal -COPED)- in Medellín (Colombia). Here, the research conceptual framework is stated, along with the most relevant part of "the state of the art". In this sense, two goals are proposed. The first is related to the adopted theoretical-methodological option. This option depends on the analysis of Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben on biopolitics. The second objective assumes as necessary introducing the revision of research precedents regarding maternity in prison, advocating for studies that generate a comparative reading of the problem.