Former Pretoria midwife sentenced to 23 years’ imprisonment

The Pretoria high court has sentenced midwife Yolande Maritz Fouch­ee to 23 years in prison.

Fouchee was found guilty of culpable homicide involving a newborn who died after nine days, 11 counts of assault, fraud, and illegally employing an unqualified person.

She ran a private midwifery practice, using social media platforms such as Facebook to attract clients. At its peak, she was earning between R100,000 and R200,000 a month.

​On Thursday, Judge Papi Mosopa said while Fouchee enjoyed a good reputation and was held in high esteem by many, behind her successful image lay dangerous overconfidence, a breakdown of professional boundaries and a complete disregard for safety rules.

Medical professionals have a sacred duty to protect lives, the judge emphasised.

​“The birth of a child is an exciting moment for families. It is imperative that those delivering babies perform their duties to the best of their ability to protect lives,” Mosopa said.

​He said she flagrantly violated nursing standards and ethical behaviour.

After her medical licence was struck off by the South African Nursing Council in 2021, evidence showed that she continued to practice illegally.

​​The court proceedings exposed emotional, physical and financial ruin Fouchee caused her victims.

“One mother shared that Fouchee forced a prolonged labour in a bathtub. This dangerous delay caused severe brain bleeding for her son. Today, he is partially blind, visually impaired and unable to move independently,” Mosopa said.

​“Another mother lost her newborn son. The grief caused her to develop severe post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and an eating disorder.”

​Mosopa said a third victim developed severe cerebral palsy due to a lack of oxygen during delivery. She is now six years old.

“Her family moved to the US and later to Uganda to access specialised medical care. Their past medical costs have exceeded R2.3m, and future lifetime care is estimated at R270m. The trauma also affected her brother, who witnessed the birth at age five and now struggles at school.”

​A probation officer’s report stated Fouchee, born in 1966, grew up in an unstable home shaped by domestic violence.

“The pre-sentence report noted that she learnt at a young age to focus on money and material wealth rather than emotional connections,” said Mosopa.

Despite holding advanced degrees in nursing and neonatal healthcare, the court found that Fouchee possessed a fatal psychological blind spot. She showed no remorse or emotion regarding the consequences of her actions, maintaining that she followed proper procedures and delivered quality service.

After the sentencing, Elsa Swart spoke about her ongoing grief.

“I am the mother of Kiana, who unfortunately died due to Yolande’s negligence on May 24 2019,” she said. “We are relieved and as happy as we can be by the jail sentence. It’s not what she deserved, but it’s what she gets for now. At least she’s going to sit there a while.”

When the victim impact statements were read aloud into the court record, Swart said she was emotional for herself and the other families as she listened to their shared pain.

“Hearing their trauma again triggers mine as well.

“I have got to know all of these women who have been touched by Yolande in the most harmful possible way.”

Another mother, Chichi Manduna, said she was pleased Fouchee has been removed from society, stating this will prevent “future tragedies”.

“I’m relieved. I’m so happy,” Manduna said. “My wish was for her to be prevented from practising. Because Yolanda is so cold-hearted, she doesn’t know when to stop. There were times when she just needed to stop, you know. So, this does not mean justice to us only, but it also means life to other children.”

One of the families contracted Mike Bolhius investigators to help them with their case against Fouchee. The PI firm said in a blog post the disciplinary findings by the SA Nursing Council had laid the groundwork for the later criminal case.

She was found guilty of multiple counts of unprofessional conduct, including:

1) Failing to recognise or act appropriately on high-risk pregnancies:

• She ignored or downplayed serious pregnancy risk factors in patients.
• Did not escalate care or refer mothers to hospitals or specialists when required. This is one of the most serious breaches in midwifery practice.

2) Practising beyond her scope of competence:

• She handled cases that were not low-risk, despite presenting her services as suitable only for normal births.
• Performed or attempted interventions that should be done by obstetric specialists.

3) Use of unsafe or inappropriate medical interventions:

• Allegations included inducing or augmenting labour using substances like Cytotec (misoprostol).

4) Failure to ensure proper monitoring and emergency response:

• Inadequate monitoring of foetal distress and labour complications.
• Delayed transfer to hospital care, even when warning signs were present.

5) Misrepresentation of her capabilities:

• She presented herself as capable of managing births that were not appropriate for a midwife-led setting. This created a false sense of safety for patients.

Fouchee made her first appearance in a criminal court in 2024.

Bolhius’s company, Specialised Security Services, said the case was important nationally because it raises hard questions about oversight of private midwife practices and regulation after professional deregistration.

“While South Africa does have an established regulatory framework governing midwifery practice, the current system is reactive rather than preventative.”

To mitigate risk and improve patient safety, the firm proposed:

• Implementation of a centralised national reporting system for adverse birth outcomes.
• Introduction of digitally tracked, real-time referral protocols.
• Strengthening of licensing and inspection frameworks for private birthing facilities.
• Enforcement of criminal penalties for post-deregistration practice.
• Development of a public, real-time accessible practitioner registry.

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