Calls to ban birth alerts grow louder as other provinces end controversial practice
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Nova Scotia's Department of Community Services says it's currently reviewing the practice, but that a birth alert may still be issued if expectant parents choose not to access supports that are offered to them.
"I don't believe that women are refusing support," said Martha Paynter, a registered nurse and founder of the non-profit group Wellness Within. "I think we need to examine very critically from an anti-racist and anti-colonial lens how it is that we present support."
She sent a letter to Community Services Minister Kelly Regan last February and again this year calling for Nova Scotia to ban birth alerts as other provinces have done. She said more supports are also needed to help marginalized parents before, during and after birth.
There are other ways to ensure newborns are protected that don't involve taking them away from their mother moments after birth, Paynter said.
"We have these conversations about supports in really non-threatening ways, in ways that are separate and guarantee that the space where the mother is receiving health services is not part of this whole threat and punishment," she said.
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls said in 2019 that birth alerts are "racist and discriminatory" and called on governments to immediately ban the practice.
"We know that many of our Indigenous women that are facing some kind of trauma or crisis in their life right now are totally at risk," Glode-Desrochers said. "They are being targeted, and we know this. We've seen it time and time again."
She said the practice creates fear and discourages families from seeking support and medical care.
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