Manitoba to end ‘birth alerts’ program
Posted June 23, 2020 6:15 pm.
Last Updated June 23, 2020 7:12 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WINNIPEG (CityNews) – Manitoba’s controversial “birth alerts” — which allow hospitals to notify child-welfare agencies about new mothers deemed to be high-risk — will come to an end this month.
The practice was originally supposed to stop in April, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Newborn apprehensions occur about once a day in Manitoba.
About 10-thousand children are under provincial care, with about 90 per cent of them Indigenous.
The move comes as the province’s Families Minister Heather Stefanson, announced that the Manitoba government will be providing additional funding for the expansion of the Mothering Project at Mount Carmel Clinic.
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“The Mothering Project helps to ensure better health and better family outcomes for at risk women,” explained Minister Stefanson. “It helps keep mothers and children together, by providing community based supports from an organization they know they can trust.”
The Manitoba government will be providing an additional $400,000.
With files from The Canadian Press
