A midwife was called by state authorities during a mother's labour to advise the baby would be taken into state care, a damning report into New Zealand's Ministry for Children has revealed.
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The hearthbreaking report from the Children's Commissioner reveals racist practices by Oranga Tamariki when dealing with state custody of Maori children.
The report is built around interviews with 13 Maori families, highlighting traumas, injustices and inadequacies.
"We very rarely hear the insights of those deeply involved in the system," Commissioner Andrew Becroft told Radio NZ on Monday.
"This was a chance to hear from these women ... I honestly think the voices should speak for themselves. Every New Zealander should read it."
Mothers, midwives, family members and some children have been interviewed as part of the project.
"I think there's a lot of hardened hearts," one writes of Oranga Tamariki (OT).
"They forget they're dealing with a mum, they're dealing with children, they're dealing with whanau (family)."
A common theme is a lack of trust and fear from Maori families towards OT, with many scarred by previous experiences.
"Don't you give my daughter back to me in a body bag," one mother said she told OT.
Another mother said her son's reaction to not being able to see siblings on special days was galling.
"He cries for his brothers all the time ... Christmas and birthdays I can take all the stuff we've got for him and they'll just take it and close the door on us like we don't even get to go in and spend time with him."
Several witnesses detail breaks from cultural practices that are the right of every Maori by law.
One mother said her midwife was called to arrange an 'uplift' before the end of the birthing procedure.
"Being in the hospital and not even birthing the placenta and having OT ring your midwife while the baby ... is just being born within minutes is insane."
Statistics show Maori families are more likely to be involved in state care.
Around 17 per cent of New Zealanders are Maori, but of 6,429 children in state custody last year, 69 per cent were Maori.
Maori babies, or pepi, are five times more likely to be taken into state care than non-Maori babies.
For many, the cycle is inter-generational.
Almost half of Maori mothers involved in state custody have themselves been in state custody earlier in life.
Justice Becroft said this interview-based report would be followed by a second report with firm recommendations for change.
He preempted findings of "revolution through devolution, a system that is by Maori for Maori".
"We want the state to shrink and we want iwi (communities), Maori and community organisations to grow and provide the right support at the coal face."
Australian Associated Press
