Sask. First Nations mother says long child-care waitlists forced her to go against her cultural beliefs – CBC
Aug 31, 2023
Jessica Dieter was taught a mother should wait until the baby arrives in the physical world
Jessica Dieter never had to worry about getting her older children into daycare once it was time to head back to work, but her most recent pregnancy was different.
Her friends and coworkers advised her to put her unborn child onto a daycare waitlist to make sure she got a spot, due to very high demand for child-care spaces. But for Deiter, to do so would go against her cultural beliefs.
Dieter lives in Fort Qu’Appelle with her husband Anton and 4 children, she is also an ELA teacher who goes back to work for the school year this week.
Dieter was taught by elders and others in her community of Okanese First Nation that a pregnant mother is a conduit between the spiritual world and the physical world, and an unborn child is a sacred being who is still with the Creator. Expectant mothers in the community are taught by Elders to wait until the child enters the physical world to celebrate the new life.
