Sioux Lookout based Tikinagan Child and Family Services is backing a provincial move to end birth alerts by the end of October.
The current practice allows children’s aid societies to alert a hospital when authorities suspect an Indigenous newborn may need help or be at risk.
Tikinagan Executive Director Thelma Morris says the decision puts an end to decades of systematic discrimination, disproportionate representation, and biases toward First Nation families and communities.
Morris says in most cases, birth alerts don’t support their goal of protecting children while supporting families to stay together.
She adds every new mother and father need to be treated with respect, not negatively impacted because of an alert that might result in judgement with discriminatory measures.
Morris notes the ceasing of birth alerts is just a start.
Morris says their traditions used to be that birthing at home was the norm but this was taken away from their people with birth alerts.
She adds Tikinagan is actively working to strengthen relationships and improve approaches in urban hospitals who serve families from their 30 member First Nations.
