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A woman from the Bigstone Cree Nation has filed a lawsuit against an Edmonton hospital for alleged neglect during childbirth and the death of her daughter, both of which she told reporters were attributable to anti-Indigenous racism among health care staff.

The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 12, names Covenant Health as the defendant. The Catholic health service provider owns and operates Misericordia Hospital, where the woman, Pearl Gambler, delivered her daughter, Sakihitowin Azaya Gambler, in June, 2020. The lawsuit alleges Ms. Gambler was not provided any medical care during the birth, and that her daughter, born five months premature, died after also receiving no treatment.

“I screamed and screamed at the top of my lungs to help her,” Ms. Gambler said at a news conference on Thursday. “My daughter should have not had to fight for her life because I’m Indigenous. She should have had the fair treatment like anybody else that comes into that hospital.”

Ms. Gambler told reporters that she was not shown compassion, even though she was in severe pain.

Her statement of claim describes unanswered calls for assistance, and says she was coerced into a vaginal exam that increased her contractions and possibly led to the delivery of her baby. She said during the news conference that she was wearing a shirt that said “Strong, resilient, Indigenous” when she arrived at the hospital, and that she felt she was not taken seriously by staff members.

Ms. Gambler’s claim says the baby was alive after delivery and “gasping for air,” but that no physician was called in to assess the newborn. This was Ms. Gambler’s third pregnancy.

The claim alleges the child died in a basket placed at a nurse’s station, and that the hospital has no record of her time of death. At one point, health care staff referred to the baby as a “specimen,” the claim says.

The allegations haven’t been tested in court. Ms. Gambler is seeking about $1.3-million in damages.

In a statement, Covenant Health said it is reviewing the allegations, but that it couldn’t comment on the specifics of the case because of privacy laws. “Racism and discrimination in all forms have no place within Covenant Health,” the statement said.

After giving birth, Ms. Gambler’s claim says, she was unable to deliver the placenta naturally and was given oxytocin, which caused intense contractions and hemorrhaging for six hours. The claim alleges she was not given care during this time, and eventually underwent surgery to remove the placenta.

Grand Chief Arthur Noskey of the Treaty 8 First Nations of Alberta, who joined Ms. Gambler at the news conference, called on Premier Danielle Smith to make changes to the province’s health care system in order to ensure equal treatment of Indigenous patients.

He said the Alberta government must implement all the health recommendations outlined in the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Those recommendations include cultural competency training for all health care professionals. He also called, among other things, for a public inquiry into injustices faced by Indigenous people in Alberta’s health care system, a review of systemic anti-Indigenous discrimination at the Edmonton hospital, and annual reporting on how equitably Indigenous people are treated in the medical system.

In September, the family of Joyce Echaquan, an Indigenous woman who was mocked by medical staff as she lay dying in a Quebec hospital in 2020, filed a lawsuit seeking nearly $2.7-million. The 37-year-old Atikamekw mother of seven filmed herself on Facebook Live as staff made the derogatory comments.

Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping said in a statement that the provincial government is committed to eliminating racism in the health care system. He said the government will engage with First Nations communities to ensure the system “includes their perspectives and meets their needs.”

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