A plan sparked by the death of a newborn abandoned outside a recycling depot in Northwest Calgary on Christmas Eve is headed for the Alberta legislature.
A Calgary mother wants a safe, anonymous drop-off spot for unwanted babies in Calgary.
Trisha McIntosh, a mother of four, is hoping to establish an Angel Cradle in our city.
“It's there for an alternative to a tragic situation so a baby's not found cold and alone behind a grocery store and that’s what these Angel Cradles are for and that’s why we’re trying to spread awareness,” says McIntosh.
In 2013, two safe drop-off sites called Angel Cradles were built onto Edmonton hospitals and one was successfully used within the past six months.
Convenant Health runs the program in Edmonton but does not have a hospital in Calgary so McIntosh hopes Alberta Health Services will consider this idea and is working with a group of Calgarians collecting signatures for a petition.
“We're only 8 or 9 people out of 1.5 million people and 200 signatures is enough to get the ball rolling so let's do it,” says McIntosh.
The group has asked Calgary-Shaw MLA Graham Sucha to present the petition to the legislature.
“I think it's very important the message they're bringing forward and I think they're starting a deeper conversation that we're having in relation to what leads to child abandonment and how we can solve the problem,” says Sucha.
Several Calgary organizations offer confidential support for mothers to give up their newborns but McIntosh feels the Angel Cradle program provides a last resort option that every city needs.
“That’s one child who gets a life. It’s a chance at a life. Every city needs it,” says McIntosh.
“I have spoken to the Ministry of Health and I know they really want to look at the root causes of these problems and they’re open to hearing any advice and any feedback that people within Alberta are willing to offer,” says Sucha.
McIntosh has collected about 800 signatures online but found out she needs handwritten signatures for this to go to the province.
She has no doubt her group can gather them before the legislature’s next sitting in March.
Calgary homicide continues to investigate the death of the baby found in the Bowness parking lot as well as the search for the mother.
