A midwife has been censured and ordered to pay $11,400 after admitting to having an affair with a client's husband.
The New Zealand midwife, who has permanent name suppression, had "a number of sexual encounters" during the five-month affair, while acting as the woman's Lead Maternity Carer.
In a decision released on Tuesday, the NZ Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal found the midwife guilty of professional misconduct and malpractice. She was ordered to pay costs of $11,400 and had conditions imposed on her practice.
The client "felt like she was going crazy" thinking that her midwife was sleeping with her husband - but she was right.
"[The midwife's] conduct was a severe breach of the trust inherent in her professional relationship with her client and a breach of her duty to the client, her baby and her family," the commission's Director of Proceedings said.
The Director said the midwife showed a "significant and on-going lack of professional judgement in a core aspect of midwifery which strikes at the heart of midwifery philosophy."
The midwife exchanged "a large number" of text messages with her client's husband, some of which were of a sexual nature, during their affair.
The midwife, who was also in a relationship, was ordered to pay $11,400 in fines, censured and ordered to undergo mentoring and counselling. She must also limit the number of clients she works with to 36 a year.
According to the Agreed Summary of Facts, the two couples became close friends and socialised regularly together.
The midwife had been involved in an earlier pregnancy with the couple, and agreed to be LMC when she became pregnant again.
The client's discovery of her husband's affair with the couple's midwife "had a devastating emotional impact on her."
An intimate relationship began after the midwife and her client's husband went shopping and had a beer together.
"They engaged in kissing and mutual fondling," the facts explained.
The pair later engaged in unprotected sex at the midwife's home. They also went on to exchange text messages, some of which were of a sexual nature, in an affair which lasted at least five months.
The client said she "felt as if she was going crazy to be thinking that her midwife ... was sleeping with the father of her children."
The client contemplated changing midwives and recalled being in such a high state of anxiety when she went into labour. She considered not calling her midwife "as she did not wish to see her".
However, her husband continued to deny he was being unfaithful.
Discovering the affair "had a devastating emotional impact on [the client] and on her family".
She was also "distressed" about having to undergo STD testing.
The Director said the midwife's actions "constituted a significant betrayal of the trust" that was placed in the midwife.
The Director felt it was not necessary to remove the midwife's name from the register, as there was remorse shown and that she had taken steps to rehabilitate herself.
- Stuff