PRETORIA – A Pretoria midwife has been convicted of culpable homicide and multiple counts of assault after a nine-day-old baby died and several women were harmed under her care.

Yolande Maritz Fouchee (48), owner and former midwife of You and Me Midwife-led Maternity Care in Murrayfield, was found guilty by the Pretoria High Court of the culpable homicide of the nine-day-old Noah Von Kloeg, six counts of assault, fraud, employment of an unqualified person, and five counts of assault involving a legal duty.

Between 2019 and 2020, Fouchee conducted pregnancy check-ups and assisted women to give birth at her Murrayfield practice. The court heard that she overlooked pregnancy complications and failed to refer patients to appropriate specialists.

Fouchee told pregnant women she was capable of performing normal to low-risk births. However, during the birthing process, she administered water mixed with Cytotec or Oxytocin to induce and augment labour without the mothers’ knowledge.

On 3 April 2019, one victim’s labour was induced. She gave birth, but her baby died nine days later due to complications that Fouchee had overlooked.

Victims reported Fouchee to the South African Nursing Council in 2020, and criminal cases were opened at Silverton police station. She was arrested at her home on 24 June 2024.

Fouchee pleaded not guilty to all charges. State prosecutor advocate Jennifer Cronje presented evidence from Fouchee’s daughter, the victims, and medical experts Professor Priya Soma-Pillay and Professor Izelle Smuts from Steve Biko Academic Hospital. The experts compiled detailed medical reports on ante-natal care, labour and delivery, and neonatal emergency care.

Acting Director of Public Prosecutions in Gauteng, advocate Marika Jansen Van Vuuren, said the case demonstrates that medical officials are not above the law and can be criminally prosecuted.

The matter has been postponed to 25 May 2026 for sentencing proceedings.