The BC College of Nurses and Midwives says it’s observed a recent uptick of people unlawfully practicing midwifery and holding themselves out to be midwives.
And, in one instance, the college says it has heard of an “unauthorized provider” involved in the death of a newborn — a matter the college is providing little detail about.
The college released a public notice on Monday as a reminder to British Columbians that midwives offer licensed, specialized clinical care under a set of regulations best aimed at improving outcomes of newborns.
Christine Penney, the college’s chief officer of regulatory policy and programs, told Glacier Media the college has received 13 reports in the past 18 months of incidents involving unauthorized midwifery practitioners and/or unauthorized use of title. There are eight people under active investigations, said Penney.
The college has three active public advisories against individuals involved in such transgressions; those are for: Gloria Lemay, Pashta MaryMoon and Karma Dawn.
The chief concern is that individuals are “unlawfully practising midwifery by providing prenatal care, attending labours, delivering babies, and managing home births when they are not permitted to do so.
“These individuals do not have the same training​, experience, and access to life-saving medications and equipment as midwives, nor integration with hospitals for emergency care if needed, resulting in significant risks to the health and safety of birthing persons and their babies,” the notice stated.
Furthermore, only registered midwives are entitled to use the title "midwife" and alternative unauthorized titles are being used by people to fraudulently suggest they are a registered midwife, such as "birth attendant" or "birth keeper.”
When asked if anyone has been punished by the college, Penney could not indicate any recent cases but said cases can head to court. (In Lemay’s case, an injunction was granted against her actions and MaryMoon likewise was ordered to cease use of the term “death midwife” for palliative services.)
The college stated it “received reports of tragic outcomes — including death — from people using unauthorized providers.”
However, Penney could not provide any specifics of that case or whether the unauthorized provider has faced consequences.
As for why there is an uptick of unauthorized providers being reported to the college — be it cultural, geographical or economical — Penney said she could not speculate.
Questionable prenatal care services with respect to birth tourism in Richmond have been widely reported but Penney said she was unaware of the practice and there has been no regulatory action with respect to that industry.
One court claim this year has seen allegations a so-called “baby house” or rooming house provider made misrepresentations: in a civil claim, Jie Zheng is accused of misrepresenting the level of antenatal and/or perinatal care and expertise her Richmond “birthing house” would be giving the wife and child of claimant Peng Chen.
In 2017, then BC Nurses' Union acting president Christine Sorensen sounded the alarm about birth tourism operations: “I’d be cautious that there’s no indication that these [baby houses] are providing for regulated, registered care at any level,” said Sorensen.
The college says unauthorized care providers can be reported in writing at [email protected].
College issues list of risks of choosing an unauthorized provider
- You have no way to verify that they have the education, skills, and qualifications to provide you and your baby with safe, competent, and ethical care. In case of an emergency, you and your baby will not have access to life-saving medical equipment and medications, which can result in unnecessary harm and preventable deaths.
- You will not have access to the broad array of lab tests, ultrasounds, other tests, medications, and specialist referrals that are available to pregnant people in B.C. You may not be provided accurate information about the risks and benefits of tests and treatments available before, during, and after birth.
- If you need to transfer to hospital during a planned home birth, an unauthorized provider cannot provide care in the hospital. They do not have hospital privileges and are not members of the health-care system, so there would be no transfer of medical records or coordination of care with hospital staff.
- You will have to pay privately for services from an unauthorized provider. This is in contravention to the law, which states that individuals may not charge a fee for the services provided by registered midwives.
- You will have no regulator to file a complaint with, that can investigate and ensure the person's practice is competent. As they do not carry malpractice insurance, you will have no ability to recover damages in court.​”
