Hawke's Bay baby uplift: One year on and mother has full access to her child

Police at the scene of the attempted baby uplift in May last year. Photo / Warren Buckland

A Hawke's Bay baby at the centre of a controversial Oranga Tamariki uplift attempt is no longer with his mother but she has full access to her 1-year-old who now lives with his grandmother.

Jean Te Huia, the midwife of the mother at the centre of the uplift, said the happy outcome was an example of Māoridom in action, and the adage of using a village to raise a child.

The uplift had been a traumatic experience for the mother but she was recovering well.

Te Huia said she challenged any mother in New Zealand to go through what the woman did and come out of it "normal".

Oranga Tamariki declined to comment for this article.

The attempted uplift of the 6-day-old boy in May last year ended in a standoff at Hawke's Bay Hospital between police officers, Oranga Tamariki workers, the family and those in the room representing them.

The subsequent coverage shone a torch on the widespread uplifting of Māori babies by the state, and prompted four inquiries into Oranga Tamariki and an eventual apology from the department.

The mother, whose first baby was taken in the same way in 2018, delivered her son by caesarean section on May 1, 2019.

The Family Court had ordered the uplift on the grounds the child's wider family had a background of domestic violence and drug use - a claim disputed by the whānau.

Oranga Tamariki applied for, and was granted, a without-notice custody order the next day.

It was directed by the judge to notify the boy's mother, but this didn't happen.

On May 6, three Oranga Tamariki workers arrived with a car seat and forms and told the mother they had come to take the baby.

The woman, with her own mother and two midwives including Te Huia, refused to hand over the baby boy, leading to the standoff as Oranga Tamariki officials and police tried day and night to enforce an order granted by the Family Court.

Negotiations with family, Oranga Tamariki and police went on until 2am the next day when it was finally decided the baby would not be uplifted.

"She went through an extremely horrific, traumatic event. She had her daughter taken off her, and to fight to stop another is extremely traumatising," Te Huia said of the mother.

"To get through it takes extensive counselling, and intensive supervision.

"All four inquiries found Oranga Tamariki wanting. They failed the reviews and the uplift was a breach of human rights for the mother," Te Huia said.

"The case highlighted a historic breakdown of government interference between women of colour and children - a racist, ethno-centric, Europeanised belief of what a mother should be."

Des Ratima says things are continuing to improve for the mother and baby involved in the attempted baby uplift last year. Photo / File

A year on, bridges burned during the uplift attempt are starting to be mended, says Des Ratima, kaumatua of Ngati Kahungunu - the Hawke's Bay iwi that has been helping the family.

Ratima was called to the hospital on the night of the attempted removal and played a part in getting social workers and police to leave the baby with the mother until a hui could be called the next day.

That hui led to a decision to put mother and baby in a respite home where family, iwi and social services were helping him.

"At the whanau hui it was agreed that the baby would be looked after by his grandmother [maternal], as incidents had been reported which required us to step in," Ratima said.

"The boy just turned 1, he's walking, has teeth, he's happy."

Te Huia said some Pakeha may view the child being raised by his grandmother as negative.

"It's frowned upon by the European society, but it is extremely normal in Maori and Pacifika families. We have been doing it for hundreds of years," she said.

"It takes a village to raise a child.''

The mother is undertaking counselling and other courses, and her life is much better than it was a year ago, Ratima said.

She has complete access to her baby.

"A year later, everyone is a lot wiser," he said.

"The mother is now seeing her mother regularly, a relationship which was previously acrimonious. She also has her own place."

Ratima helped her with visiting and access rights to the baby.

He said what mattered was the incident opened up the communication lines between himself, the iwi, and Oranga Tamariki, and that baby and mum were both doing well.

"The baby's progress is going really well. His grandmother constantly shares pictures with me," he said.

"The mother has complete access but no permanency, and whether it happens is really up to her."

He said he was working with the family as they underwent intensive intervention.

"It requires us to do as much as we can to work with the family to remove layers which got them to behave in such a way that Oranga Tamariki had to intervene," he said.

"It's intensive and time consuming, and not funded by the Government. But I have to give credit to Oranga Tamariki for providing petrol money for the mother to go to courses and counselling and food parcels.

"It has been a struggle, but it continues to improve."