Birthing Freedom
Do you think it’s ok for Children's Aid Society to take a newborn away from her mother because a healthcare provider calls them and says “The baby might become ill in the future?” If you think yes, it’s ok, then reading this will be a waste of your time. If you support the right of a woman to give birth how, where, and with whom she wants, and it upsets you to think a newborn can be apprehended because certain government agencies think they have the right to control her, then read on.
My daughter G was in the unfortunate position of having to change midwives in the 8th month of pregnancy. A problem developed when G’s new midwife had a disagreement with G’s previous midwife, and the new midwife became hostile and unreasonable with G.
G gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and in the end decided not to call the midwife to attend her. Everything went well, and I called the midwife after the birth. She said she was busy, and sent a different midwife. Late that evening another midwife came each one said everything was fine, but I could feel the hostility coming from them I was concerned about it because it was not normal for any midwife I had ever met.
On the evening of the next day, there was a knock at the door. Two Children’s Aid workers and two police Officers were at the door. They informed us they had received a call from the midwives that a baby was in danger and they were here to apprehend. We went into shock I felt like the world was moving in slow motion and sounds were far away I thought”This is Canada, this can’t happen”. We showed the beautiful, healthy, perfectly loved baby to the workers and tried to explain that the midwives were angry and vengeful. Nothing we said made any difference. The workers and police aggressively forced me to put the baby in the car seat and they took her away. You have no idea the horror and helplessness that overcame us at that moment. It is your heart fallinginto your shoes and your brain screaming “No, no, no, no”. Being completely blindsided and harshly treated creates such a trauma, especially for a new mom, with the post partem hormones....It was an utter nightmare.
Maybe you are like me and when you hear that CAS has taken a child from a family, you think, “They must have done something awful.” I don’t think that any more. I have learned what can happen if you cross a medical professional.
The baby was taken to the hospital and every test showed she was perfectly healthy. Shewas returned to her parents, thank God, but not before days of additional trauma was inflicted on them by CAS and medical personnel.
We do not want this to happen to any other family, and we felt compelled to launch a civil suit against the midwives and CAS. We are unable to sue the doctor. We don’t have that kind of money, and doctors in Ontario have possibly the most powerful legal team in Canada. We are determined to fight for changes in the way CAS does things. We have retained Raymond Murray at Nelligan O’Brien Payne. My husband and I have now used all the money we had available and maxed out our line of credit. We may lose the case, and this is extremely expensive, but need our voice to join others who have been hurt the way G and our family have been. I am crying as I write this. It just brings back so many emotions I thought I had dealt with. I am also terrified of what might happen if I put our story out there like this. But I am running out of options. If you have any questions or want to talk with me I would be more than happy to talk. Anything that you could do to help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Doris.