13 unlicensed B.C. midwife reports in the last 18 months, some caused fatal outcomes: College

The BC College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) says it’s received at least 13 reports of midwives operating without a license in B.C. in the last year and a half.

It issued a warning on Monday explaining that people had been providing midwifery care without being qualified and said no one should enlist the services of a midwife in B.C. unless their name is in the college’s online registry.

The college says some of those incidents have ended tragically, including instances of fatal and neonatal deaths, serious neonatal injuries, and harm to the person giving birth. The BCCNM says it can’t provide numbers or details related to these deaths in order to “protect the confidentiality of investigations.”

“We do not know how many unauthorized practitioners are active in B.C. as we only know what is reported to us. We expect the number is far greater than those we are aware of. We continue to investigate all reports and take appropriate action against the unauthorized providers,” it said.

The BCCNM tells CityNews it is currently investigating eight people in relation to these incidents as some of them have been linked to multiple reports, but it wasn’t able to provide much more information on these incidents — including whether or not police were alerted on any occasion.

RCMP says it doesn’t categorize files by the type of offender — meaning they can’t filter cases to find those that might be attributed to unlicensed midwives. However, Mounties say they do investigate all cases of sudden death.

CityNews has reached out to the BC Coroners Service for more information regarding the tragic outcomes the BCCNM mentioned.

The college asks anyone who encounters an unauthorized midwife to report them via email at complaints@bccnm.ca, and adds it may take legal action in order to “prohibit an individual from using the title of midwife or providing unauthorized midwifery services.”