Midwife tried to broker baby deal

A Central Otago midwife who tried to broker a private adoption deal between a patient and a member of her own family has been found guilty of professional misconduct.

A Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal hearing found the woman initiated, promoted, and managed the deal while ignoring the best interests of her pregnant client between November 2006 and January 2007.

The midwife failed to recognise the ethical conflict of presenting family members as potential adoptive parents when she should have been providing objective support to the mother, the tribunal found.

The midwife has been granted permanent name suppression to protect those involved.

She has been ordered to undergo supervision for 18 months, pay 40 per cent of the tribunal's costs and undertake a skills course, The Pressreported.

"The breaches are sufficiently serious enough to warrant discipline to protect the public and maintain professional standards," tribunal chairman Bruce Corkill, QC, said.

The teenage mother eventually decided to keep her baby.

- NZPA