Former midwife Yolande Maritz Fouchee (48), who was convicted of culpable homicide and multiple assault charges, is to be sentenced today (Thursday) in the Gauteng High Court, reports News24.
During sentencing proceedings on Monday, the state argued that she had shown no remorse and posed a high risk of reoffending, suggesting she be imprisoned for 15 years for culpable homicide; eight years for the charge of assault with forceps and involving a legal duty; five years for fraud and the assault with misoprostol injections; and a fine or 12 months’ imprisonment for the employment of an unqualified person concurrently.
Fouche owned and operated You and Me Midwife-led Maternity Care in Pretoria between 2019 and 2020, where she conducted pregnancy check-ups and assisted women during childbirth.
The court heard she routinely overlooked pregnancy complications and failed to refer patients to appropriate specialists, and also falsely assured expectant mothers that she could facilitate normal to low-risk births, despite not being qualified to do so.
She regularly administered water mixed with Cytotec and Oxytocin to patients without their knowledge or consent, and this, along with other complications, prompted victims to report Fouchee to the South African Nursing Council (SANC) in 2020.
She was arrested on 24 June 2024.
No insight, no remorse
In a pre-sentence report, social worker and probation officer Heidi Buhrow said Fouchee showed no insight into her behaviour and no remorse.
The state submitted eight victim impact statements, including those from women who were assaulted when she injected them with labour-inducing drug misoprostol without consent. Other assault charges stemmed from the use of forceps.
Two children suffered cerebral palsy as a result of her malpractice.
Fouchee has insisted she did nothing wrong and that the nine-day-old infant who died in her care would have died even if delivered elsewhere.
Rehabilitation rejected
Defence counsel Nico Raubenheimer stated that in mitigation of sentence, Fouchee had no previous convictions and had already suffered substantial damage, and been “subjected to public exposure and reputational damage”.
He suggested she be imprisoned for three to five years or given a non-custodial sentence due to the mitigating factors.
Fouchee’s lack of remorse should not result in a harsher sentence, he argued.
But prosecutor Jennifer Cronjé said rehabilitation was not an option for Fouchee due to her lack of remorse and accountability, saying Fouchee had previously shown an inability to be rehabilitated when she continued practising midwifery as a “traditional birthing attendant” even after the SANC revoked her licence.
Money the motivator
The pre-sentence report found that Fouchee’s main motivation for staying in midwifery was “to make money”, as she earned between R100 000 and R200 000 per month from her practice.
Retaining patients was her main goal, which explained why she often did not refer them to specialists when complications arose, it said, adding that she used Christianity and her religious beliefs to justify her conduct.
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