Woman may be offering unauthorized midwifery service, college warns
A Comox Valley woman who advertises herself as a “medically intuitive medicine woman” is the subject of a public warning by the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives.
The college said it received reports that Erika Nabuurs has been advertising herself as a birth attendant and may be offering midwifery services without the authority to do so.
“Erika Nabuurs has never been and is not a registrant of BCCNM and is not entitled to practice as a midwife in British Columbia,” the college said in a public advisory.
A website advertising birth attendant services from Nabuurs — who also goes by the name Mele O Ka Naia — said she has an undergraduate degree from Mount Allison University in New Brunswick with a focus in neuropsychology and that she received naturopathic medicine training at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine.
The Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine has a Boucher Campus in New Westminster.
On her website, Nabuurs refers to herself as “unlicensed” and “self-governed.”
In B.C., only those who have registered with the college, passed a national exam and have completed a four-year university program that covers a wide range of clinical skills can call themselves midwifes or registered midwives and practise midwifery services.
Registration with the college ensures that nurses and midwives with the requisite skills and education are employed to practise in the province, the college said.
The college encourages members of the public to verify the registration status of midwives on its website, registry.