The parents of a newborn baby who was born unresponsive on Dec. 27, 2023, and died on Jan. 6, 2024, have issued a brief statement after a B.C. woman was charged with manslaughter in connection with the baby’s death.
Gloria Lemay, 77, who is permanently banned from practicing midwifery and calls herself a ‘childbirth activist,’ was charged on Tuesday.
She will next appear in court on Thursday to set a date for a bail hearing.
Police said Lemay was involved in the birth, and her involvement in the process led to the child’s injuries and eventual death.
Following a brief court appearance on Wednesday, a lawyer representing the baby’s parents said in a statement:
“We’re heartened to hear of the charges brought against Ms. Lemay, and applaud the hard work of the RCMP and others in working to protect vulnerable children and parents in this province. We hope that concurrent civil and criminal steps against Ms. Lemay may finally bring an end to what appears to have been a long pattern of dangerous and illegal behaviour.”
The parents and their lawyer declined to comment on camera.
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