Unlicensed ‘midwife’ Heather Baker may face criminal charges in Brown County

A Wisconsin woman who practiced midwifery without a license for more than a decade has been referred to prosecutors for potential criminal investigation, Brown County District Attorney David Lasee confirmed Tuesday.

Heather Baker, a 49-year old De Pere woman, marketed herself as a “traditional midwife” and traveled across the U.S. and Mexico to assist women with home births – despite being told to stop by Wisconsin’s licensing agency in 2014. 

As first reported by the Journal Sentinel and Green Bay Press-Gazette, the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services opened an investigation into Baker after 10 complaints were filed against her during a two-month span this summer. 

Several of the complaints suggest Baker’s practices may violate state regulations governing licensed midwives and standards of care accepted nationally by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Those practices include using drugs to delay or induce labor, discouraging ultrasounds and other prenatal care, and failing to transfer mothers to the hospital in potentially dangerous situations, according to the complaints.  

Baker did not respond to a request for comment.

Department of Safety and Professional Services spokesperson John Beard declined comment other than to say the department’s investigation is ongoing.

The complaints being investigated by the agency span incidents in Florida, Rhode Island and Mexico, including one regarding the death of Jennifer Nosek’s baby during her home birth in Sayulita, Mexico.

Nosek and her husband Rene Lemos, whose son was stillborn in April, are pursuing a case of criminal negligence against Baker in Mexico.

The couple allege in the lawsuit that “Baker’s negligent process as a pseudo-midwife” led several mothers to experience complications in their births due to the use of misoprostol — a drug used to treat postpartum hemorrhaging, and in some cases, to induce labor. 

A group of mothers in Mexico who filed complaints with Wisconsin regulators and helped gather evidence for Nosek’s lawsuit released a statement in response to Baker’s referral for potential criminal investigation.

“Our hope is that the irreparable damage she has caused can be brought to light, accountability can be sought through the justice system and more objective information about her services will become apparent in hope that future families are saved from the traumatic and tragic outcomes others have experienced at her hands,” the statement read.

Alyssa N. Salcedo is a data and investigative journalist pursuing her master’s in journalism at DePaul University. She can be reached at asalced4@depaul.edu. 

Jessica Van Egeren of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this article.