The B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives says the unauthorized practice of midwifery has become a significant public safety risk, with 13 reports in just a year and a half.
The college says it actively investigates all reports and about eight individuals are currently under active investigation.
In some cases, individuals performing unauthorized midwifery services agree to stop while in other cases the college may be forced to take action including public advisories or pursuing an injunction, said Johanna Ward, senior spokesperson for the college.
The college posted a public notice this week warning expectant parents of the risks posed by unauthorized midwifery practitioners and asking those aware of such activity to report it.
Last month, the college issued a public advisory about a Victoria woman who was purporting to be a midwife and could be offering midwifery services without authority to do so.
Karma Dawn “has never been and is not a registrant of BCCNM and is not entitled to practice as a midwife in British Columbia,” said the notice posted Oct. 16.
In B.C., only those registered with the college can call themselves midwives or registered midwives. To become a midwife, they must complete a four-year university program that covers a wide range of clinical skills and pass a national exam.
Registration with the college ensures only nurses and midwives with the required skills and education are employed in nursing and midwifery positions in the province, said the college.
Dawn’s website continues to say she offers “traditional midwifery” services, however. “Traditional Midwives (TM) have been involved in delivering babies, and providing a broad range of other services to women, for hundreds of years,” it says.
Dawn is listed on the INNATE Postpartum Care Practitioners Directory as a “traditional birth attendant and a guide for women to reclaim and cultivate their personal power.”
Offering and providing “traditional midwifery” services constitutes unauthorized practice and use of a reserved title,” Ward said this week. “Ms. Dawn is not a registrant of the college and is therefore not authorized to offer these services.”
In an email to the Times Colonist last month, Dawn accused the college of a “witch hunt” against her, adding she will stop her work once the college stops “gaslighting, abusing, raping, torturing and traumatizing women during their birth processes.”
The B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives urges the public to verify the registration status of any individual who promotes themselves as a midwife via its online midwife verification tool (registry.midwives.bccnm.ca) or by directing an inquiry to the college’s registration department.
The college says it does not have the authority to stop individuals who are not registrants of the college but continue to advertise themselves as midwives. That power, it says, rests with the court system, which can issue an injunction.
That’s what happened in the case of Pashta MaryMoon who referred to herself on Twitter, now called X, and other websites as a “death midwife.”
In 2016, the college, then called the College of Midwives of B.C., issued a public advisory about MaryMoon.
The college petitioned for an injunction under the Health Professions Act and in 2020, the Court of Appeal ordered her not to use the midwife title.
