REGINA The Saskatchewan government announced on Monday it will put an end to birth alerts at the beginning of February. The practice saw pregnant women – mostly First Nations – flagged as unfit to care for their newborns before giving birth. This allowed the Ministry of Social Services to be notified when the baby was born, which could lead to the newborn’s apprehension. Minister of Social Services Lori Carr said going forward, the ministry will be working with community partners to find ways to better support expecting parents. “Our ultimate goal is to work a lot closer with our community-based organizations, because sometimes these mothers already have an existing relationship with them, and try to be a little more proactive at the front end so that something like that doesn’t happen within a hospital setting,” said Carr.