Angel's Cradle

At her first visit doctors estimated she was about 32 weeks, but when her daughter was born they said it had actually been more like 34. Thirty-four weeks in and she had known she was pregnant for less than a week.

“It was actually horrifying,” said ----------, 19, of finding out she was pregnant. “I said, ‘…you can’t possibly be past your first trimester so you’ll at least be able to finish the year.’ I plan a lot of things so even in the midst of freaking out I was planning that this would be okay and then it wasn’t okay.”

The university student left school less than three months into her first year. Now, back at school after giving her daughter up for adoption in January 2010, she said she made the right choice.

“I’m very aware that I’m ill-equipped to be a mother. I’m not a very mentally or emotionally stable person and there’s still a lot of things I want to do and accomplish in my life,” she said.

Across Canada women face similar situations, but some with more tragic results.

A Toronto woman is currently undergoing psychiatric evaluation after dumping her newborn into a trash can in Calgary on Oct. 19. The infant is still alive, unlike other babies in high-profile abandonment cases across the country. A mother was charged with manslaughter following the 2008 abandonment of her daughter in the garbage in Quebec City.

High profile cases such as these contributed to the creation of Angel’s Cradle. Modeled after Safe Haven laws in the United States, Angel’s Cradle operates out of St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, B.C., and allows for the anonymous drop-off of infants without fear of legal persecution.

Similar legislation is already in place in Europe, and the U.S. according to Canadian Centre for Abuse Awareness (CCAA).

Justin Karasick, senior public affairs officer with Providence Health Care, which oversees St. Paul’s, said Canada’s first legal program was the brainchild of Dr. Geoffrey Cundiff, head of obstetrics and gynecology at Providence Health Care.

“He just witnessed over the years babies being found in dumpsters across Canada and he just thought there needs to be some sort of solution to prevent this,” he said.

Starting up the program itself wasn’t too complicated. The cradle was built into the side of the emergency entrance and the Catholic hospital received funding from the archdiocese of British Columbia, Karasick said.

No new operating capital was necessary. “It’s built right into the side of our emergency department so if a baby was dropped off emergency staff have been trained to respond,” he said.

The cradle operates with a delayed alarm. After the door is opened there is a 30-second delay before hospital staff are notified of the baby, during which the mother can leave.

After an initial assessment the hospital must report the child to B.C.’s Ministry of Children and Family Development and they take guardianship of the baby until he or she could be placed with a family, according to Darren Harbord, a public affairs officer with the ministry.

“There is a six month residency period with the child and the adoptive family to assess if it is a good match,” Harbord said. “This is also a period of time where the birth mom may come forward if she wants custody of her child; however there would have to be proven maternity.”

Since it’s opening six months ago, the program has only taken in one child, and Covenant Health, an Alberta medical group and Canada’s largest Catholic healthcare provider, is looking into a similar program – begging the question: Is it working? The system is certainly not without its controversies.

Critics question everything from funding and advertising to repercussions for mother, father and child.

Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, has been a firm opponent of lawful abandonment for years. In the April 2003 edition of The Christian Science Monitor, Pertman outlined his reasons.

“A mother who is so distraught or so in denial that she would stuff her newborn in a trash can is not likely, instead, to ask her boyfriend for a ride to the police station,” he said. “Women in distress need counseling and support, not to mention pre- and postnatal medical assistance. But these laws don’t even pretend to offer resources to help mothers deliver healthy babies or to resolve the traumas that lead them to jeopardize their newborns’ lives.”

“These well-intentioned laws have spread so rapidly (all in the past three years) because they promise an intuitively appealing, easy fix. But complex social problems are rarely resolved through simple, feel-good solutions,” he said.

Cheryl Appell, a partner with the Dickson MacGregor Appell law firm in Toronto, said she agrees that the situation is not so black and white but said the system does provide certain benefits.

Appell, an Ontario private adoption specialist, said legally the father must be informed if the mother is looking to put her child up for adoption, something that can cause problems beyond the loss of the mother’s privacy. Programs like Angel’s Cradle could help, she said.

“The only scenario in which I could see it have a function and a use for the mother is if there is a violent father and he was technically a legal parent and she’d have to notify him and she’s not prepared to do that,” Appell said. “If a law requires notice to any father and she has extreme privacy concerns, such as honour killings, I could see that.”

For others, Appell encourages adoption. Children can be adopted by relatives, through open or closed private and public adoptions and mothers won’t pay the cost, she said. “It’s such a cost to her because she’ll never know how that baby’ is doing, there’s no looking back,” she said.

“In a private adoption, even if a mom says I never want to have a visit we usually have an agreement that says if she changed her mind she could have a visit. She’d always be able to find out how the baby is doing.”

-------- said that’s exactly how she felt. “Just because I don’t want to be her mother doesn’t mean I don’t want to ensure she has a good life, a good family.”

She said she thinks unlawful baby abandonment can be attributed to lack of information. “I think you’d have to be entirely hopeless and depressed and truthfully I think you would have to be completely uneducated about your options. If you were educated about your options you would know… your baby could go somewhere completely safe and it can all happen on your terms,” -------- said.

Under the Canadian Criminal Code, unlawful child abandonment could result in up to five years in prison. However, in an interview with CBC, the hospital said the Vancouver Police agreed not to try and find mothers who leave their children at Angel’s Cradle.

Constable Jana McGuiness of the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) would not confirm the arrangement and said the department would not speak to the specifics of the issue. “The VPD would not become involved unless we were notified of the possibility of a criminal offence involved,” McGuiness said.

The idea of a Safe Haven law in Canada was brought up in Saskatchewan in 2007 following a 19-year-old’s abandonment of a baby in sub-zero temperature, but has yet to amount to anything.

In 2009, New Brunswick considered similar legislation when the Conservative party tabled a private members bill. It would have been the first province with the legislation.

Since Angel’s Cradle’s establishment, other hospitals are thinking of following suit, but controversy remains. Not everyone is convinced that Safe Haven laws actually work.

Dr. Cundiff could not be reached for comment.

One more, then nothing until January

So this will be my second last post until January. I will update it once when I finish my feature story about Angel's Cradle, but then no more until January since I am currently busy doing layout for The Charlatan Magazine and web-editing the national section of the Charlatan (and of course exams!).

Happy holidays.

Charla-Updates :)

http://www.charlatan.ca/content/students-drink-more-abroad-study

http://www.charlatan.ca/content/carleton-considers-navitas

http://www.charlatan.ca/content/former-raven-pleads-guilty-sexual-assault

http://www.charlatan.ca/content/cupe-4600-reaches-tentative-agreement

http://www.charlatan.ca/content/cupe-4600-strike-looms-2424-settles

http://www.charlatan.ca/content/keys-being-successful-student

http://www.charlatan.ca/content/updated-cupe-2424-reaches-agreement

http://www.charlatan.ca/content/ex-carleton-prof-faces-extradition-terrorism

http://www.charlatan.ca/content/western-breathes-sigh-relief

http://www.charlatan.ca/content/one-world-showcases-feature-length-documentaries

http://www.charlatan.ca/content/hazing-allegations-rock-u

http://www.charlatan.ca/content/talking-body-making-impression

Blogging Fail

It's been a busy month.

I recently received my organization profile assignment back so for all you Museum of Nature lovers, here's a little taste...
PS it was worthy of an "A" and I spent the better part of the week on it

"Museum of Nature: Six Year Reno Worth The Wait"

Earlier this year, Carol Campbell was charged with setting up the new RBC Blue Water Gallery. The challenge? Moving the specially mounted 19.8-metre skeleton of a blue whale, weighing in at almost 3,000 kilograms.
Campbell, a senior project manager with the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMN), is no stranger to creating exhibits. Since 1985 she’s been building entire exhibits at the museum’s Gatineau office.
The trick, she said, is when it comes time to move the carefully created displays to the Victoria Memorial Museum Building where people can actually enjoy them. Over the years, she’s moved everything from dinosaurs to moose skeletons.
To say the process is a challenge is a bit of an understatement. The wide set of stairs you see when you enter the atrium go up just one flight and at the time they had only a small, freight elevator.
Campbell would direct a team to take apart the exhibits and transport them, bit by bit – an arduous task to say the least.
The sheer length of the blue whale made this year’s exhibit a challenge, but an easier one than last year thanks to extensive building renovations. Campbell’s saviour? The two brand-new elevators, she said.
Indeed, the museum has come a long way from it’s beginning in 1842 as the Geological Survey of Canada. Originally located at George and Sussex, construction began on a new building in 1905.
Named for Queen Victoria, who had recently ended her 64-year reign, the building was completed in 1910 and opened to the public in 1912.
Chief architect and designer David Ewart designed the building to look like a castle. He had envisioned a mirror image of the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings. Unfortunately the tower, mirroring Parliament, was removed in 1915 because it was too heavy for the foundation.
It was just the beginning of problems with the building, but despite renovations over the years a permanent solution was not found until recent years.
After the fire on Feb. 3, 1916 that destroyed the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings, the government turned the Victoria Memorial Museum Building into a temporary Commons Chamber.
The “temporary” Commons Chamber lasted for four years and saw several monumental laws passed. In 1917 both the Military Service Act and the Income Tax Act were passed.
Arguably more importantly, the Act to confer the Electoral Franchise upon Women, more commonly known as the act allowing women to vote, was passed in the building in 1918.
Following the death of former Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier on Feb. 17, 1919, his body was laid in state in the museum’s amphitheatre.
The renovations started in 2004 and lasted until 2010, taking into careful consideration the building’s historical importance.
For six years the museum has remained in a limbo of sorts, with only one wing open at a time, a lack of visitor amenities and constant construction, all in an effort to carefully address structural issues so as to preserve the building’s heritage.
For the many who stuck around, the end result is simply breathtaking. The original tower has been recreated out of glass and dubbed simply, “the lantern”. The new glass has the affect of flooding the atrium with light and anyone with the energy to climb to the top of the tower is afforded a direct view of Parliament, down Metcalfe Street.
Back when the lantern was originally proposed, there were many opponents to the design, primarily because it would be glass. Although not everyone will come around to the modern design, many have, said Dan Smythe, spokesperson with the museum.
The decision had to do with both function and aesthetics, he explained. To attempt to recreate the original tower would be foolhardy since the foundation can’t sustain the weight.
To solve this, the new lantern was cantilevered. This means the glass structure is supported solely by the steel structure on top but not on bottom, effectively putting no extra weight on the weaker part of the foundation.
Aesthetically, the museum wanted a contemporary design to “recapture the space”, said Smythe. It was also important; in terms of protecting the heritage that the new addition not appear as though it was part of the original structure.
Internally, the wings of the building were practically recreated. The original structure was left untouched except for a few touch ups. A building within a building was created to bring the museum up to code.
Divided into six stages, it was a daunting task and after the completion for the first stage, Public Works Canada brought in Maria K. Somjen to finish the job.
It’s the largest project she, and everyone else at the museum, has ever worked on: the trick being to bring the building into the 21st century, while balancing functionality, architecture and heritage. At the same time, the museum had to remain partially open to the public.
The decision to keep the museum partially open during the renovations, thereby extending the time until completion, was made after research into the costs CMN would occur by completely closing.
Staff would be forced to find new jobs, meaning they might not be able to return after the renovation’s completion, but most importantly the museum would fall out of the public eye.
“You want to keep a bit of a footprint so you’re always in people’s minds,” Smythe explained.
It was an extensive overhaul financed entirely by the Canadian Government. The museum was given $216 million. The majority of the funds, approximately 88 per cent, went to infrastructure and health and safety upgrades, specifically seismic reinforcement and environmental controls.
A smaller part went to heritage restoration, restoring the original bronze and mosaic tiles to their former glory. It was Somjen’s job to come in on budget. “That was my main concern,” she said. “And we did.”
One hundred years after the completion of the original building, the renovations were done and the museum officially re-opened. The one thing the renovations haven’t managed to change is the museum’s enthusiasm.
The CMN reopened, fittingly, on May 22, 2010: the International Day for Biological Diversity. Lines stretched around the block as people streamed in. Some were curious about the renovations, while others had childhood ties to the museum and were bringing their own children through for the first time.
The feedback staff and volunteers have received has been nothing short of positive. “I think we’re kind of like the new kid on the block at the moment,” Smythe said. Aside from debate over the contemporary design of the lantern (which is starting to die out), the public response has been very encouraging, he said.
“There is, of course, a lot of trepidation when people try to mix old and new… the staff was uncertain, the public was uncertain. In all honesty, I’ve heard nothing but positive results. It’s that wow factor when you come in,” said Smythe.
Watching children run around the museum, Campbell said she’s heard all good things. “In the end everyone is just thrilled with the results. We just keep looking forward.”
Working with young student workshops, volunteer veteran Barry Read said he thinks it’s important to recognize that the museum has not sacrificed science for a more modern look.
“I think the renovations are excellent. I don’t see that they’ve skimped or short-changed the science.” The aim, he said, was to bring CMN up to “world-class “ standards and he believes they have.
Shortly after the museum’s re-opening, in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, former President Joanne DiCosimo listed “fostering a museum in which employees demonstrate pride in the institution” as one of her major accomplishments.
As the museum’s president for 13 years, DiCosimo followed a turbulent period during which museum staff were involved in non-stop public feuds. Today, there is no sign of any problems.
On the contrary, museum attendance has hit record numbers and the staff couldn’t be prouder. Prior to the renovations the museum received between 250-280,000 visitors annually. In the six months since the re-opening, they’ve already surpassed that with over 300,000 visitors in the summer alone. CMN hopes to double that number in the next couple of years.
Volunteers, museum staff, project managers and museumgoers alike have nothing but good words for the museum that many have raised their children alongside.
With 22 years volunteering at the museum under her belt, Carole Brown said she was frustrated by six straights years of construction. With the construction and restoration complete, she’s able to look back and laugh at all the chaos.
“It proved some challenges, but sometimes the construction worked well… we were doing a class with an older group about tectonic plates and just at the absolute opportune moment they [construction workers] did an explosion and the museum shook a bit, you couldn’t have time it better.”
The only Canadian nature museum with a national mandate, the CMN struggled until the renovations with building problems. Until now, humidity and temperature issues made it impossible to host travelling exhibits or extensive displays like the RBC Blue Water Gallery.
The only current pressing problem is financial: where will the money come for the additional operating costs? With a temporary solution on hand, the CMN needs to come up with something and fast or risk closing the renovations they so recently unveiled.
Full operation of the building with all the new additions will require an additional $2.2 million in 2010-2011 and $2.5 million in 2011-2012. A temporary, two-year solution is in the works to reduce costs and help with financial sustainability. The government also pitched in an additional $3 million in operational funding for this year alone, but that’s it.
Beyond the next two years, there is no plan existing as of yet and the museum is facing serious setbacks if it doesn’t find one fast. A lack of finances could mean the closure of some of the recently renovated exhibits.
Despite the renovation chaos and the race to find additional funding, there is no regret. Any bad feelings lingering from construction days have been replaced with nothing short of enthusiasm, according to Smythe.
“Our president [Joanne DiCosimo] used to say that this is the kind of thing that only happens every hundred years to a museum and we had the privilege to do it. I’m sure if you had asked us halfway through a lot of us would be moaning and groaning because frankly, it was really tough. It was hard to see the end in sight, but finally we’re here.”
Now that they’re “here”, visitors can expect a lot more from the CMN. Starting in 2012, a major travelling exhibition from New Zealand about whales will be showcased. Prior to the renovations, that just wouldn’t have been possible.
As they prepare for the exhibit, and the many more now made possible, the museum is going to focus on its audience and getting adjusted to the new space. “Our exhibit staff [have] really had to adapt a lot. These folks… they have to learn a whole new building,” said Smythe.
Not that they’re complaining. “We’ve just really come into this century and it’s fantastic,” Campbell enthused.