The chief executive of the Māori Midwives Aotearoa says it's time to stop Oranga Tamariki taking Māori babies.
Jean Te Huia says a case where the Children's Ministry tried to take a baby from a birthing unit at Hawke's Bay Hospital is just the tip of the iceberg.
She says caseworkers are given a huge amount of power over whānau, and once the ministry has decided to take a baby there seems to be no way to reverse the decision.
That jars with the advice from former Children's Commissioner Russell Wills that state care is not a safe option for children.
"Eighty three percent of our Mongrel Mob members and our Black Power were wards of the state and we look at the Māori prison rate, in prison today 78 percent of those men were wards of the state. We look at our mental institutes, previously wards of the state as well," she says.
A Not one more baby taken Facebook group set up by Jean Te Huia to allow whānau to discuss their experiences with Oranga Tamariki has already got more than 1500 members.
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