Jo Hughson, counsel for the Professional Conduct Committee (PCC), said the midwife “felt pressured and did not willingly engage” in the encounter.
While the incident precipitated the events, the misconduct charge related to the midwife’s decision to continue providing care to the client afterwards.
“There is an obligation professionally on a midwife to take steps to facilitate the termination of the relationship and not provide services to the client,” Hughson said.
The conduct went beyond “minor human error”, she said.
The midwife continued to provide pregnancy, birth and post-natal care and, in those circumstances, acted in breach of trust and unethically, Hughson said.
The tribunal heard that the midwife accepted the misconduct and acknowledged that she should have passed the client’s care to another midwife.
She is no longer practising as a midwife.
Tribunal chairman Truc Tran said the allegation had been established and amounted to professional misconduct and malpractice.
The midwife was censured and ordered to pay 25% of the PCC’s costs and 25% of the tribunal’s costs.
Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has had a strong interest in business and financial journalism.
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