A B.C. woman charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of a newborn last year will appear in court on Thursday to set a date for a bail hearing.
Gloria Lemay, 77, who is permanently banned from practicing midwifery, was charged on Tuesday after Ladysmith RCMP said the baby was born unresponsive on Dec. 27, 2023, at a private home and died on Jan. 6, 2024.
Police said Lemay was involved in the birth, and her involvement in the process led to the child’s injuries and eventual death.
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Lemay appeared in court in Duncan briefly via telephone on Wednesday morning.
Crown counsel and the defence lawyer agreed to move Lemay’s next hearing to Thursday.
Lemay is the subject of a permanent court order issued in 2000, which “permanently prohibited and enjoined her from performing services for the purpose of midwifery,” according to the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM).
In 2002 she was jailed for five months for defying a court injunction barring her from practice.
But in a public advisory issued in January 2024, the college said Lemay has continued to hold herself out as a birth attendant, possibly offering midwifery services, despite the ban.
Lemay “is not, and has never been, a registrant of BCCNM and is not entitled to practice midwifery in British Columbia,” the college warned.
—with files from Simon Little
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