'Tortuous labor': Baby's death leads to midwife suspended by Arizona State Board of Nursing
GILBERT, Ariz. - A certified nurse midwife based in Gilbert was suspended by the state. The Arizona State Board of Nursing says concerns surrounding the midwife have been building up for some time. This comes more than a year after her former client's baby died during labor.
The reality is, Karin Braun has continued to practice as a midwife since this tragedy last March up until the state ordered an emergency suspension last week.
What her patient experienced:
A woman in pain, voicing her heartbreak to the Arizona State Board of Nursing on May 16: "The trauma, grief and pain and suffering my daughter has experienced, we do not wish on any other family."
We aren't identifying her, but on March 3, 2023, her daughter, known as "Patient AP," had a breech pregnancy.
Her midwife at the time was Karin Kulenchinko Braun, owner and clinical director of Gilbert Family Birth Center and Balance Midwifery.
The center's website shows Braun's bio, saying she's been attending births since 1994.
State records obtained by FOX 10 show "AP" was discharged by Braun due to a breech pregnancy, which is out of the scope of a certified midwife. But documents say Braun "provided medication orders" to a certified professional midwife, instead of transferring "AP" to a more qualified provider.
A certified professional midwife - also known as a non-nurse midwife - is licensed by the state's Department of Health Services, held under different standards.
"I believe that Karin Braun and her friend and business associate Alison Gordon is responsible due to their conduct," said Patient AP's mother.
We'll get to Alison Gordon in a moment.
AP's prolonged labor lasted nearly two days.
The state's preliminary findings say despite the discharge three days earlier, Braun came to the pregnant woman's home to drop off supplies and medical records.
"Karin continued to praise and encourage my daughter to be strong and having endurance and my daughter continued to trust Karin and Alison that they knew what they were doing and that she was safe, but mom and baby was not safe."
Still, no transfer of care to a more qualified provider.
The patient's mother says her daughter sustained serious injuries and the baby died during delivery.
Findings reveal Braun has violated board of nursing standards since 2020, accused of admitting a patient to her birth center who had ruptured membranes for more than 24 hours.
The board says Braun did not initiate transfer to a higher level of care when the same patient went into shock after losing a liter of blood.
"We have concerns that are over a period of years, notwithstanding the years of experience. We have years of troubling… questions of competency, questions of judgment," said Carolyn Jo McCormies, President of the Arizona State Board of Nursing.
The non-nurse midwife that Braun allegedly referred "Patient AP" to last March has been investigated by the Arizona Department of Health Services multiple times.
Alison Gordon was suspended for 30 days in 2021 before being put on probation for five months.
DHS findings say she did not ensure a client had a Hepatitis C test, did not meet standards on testing fetal heart tones, and waited too long to transfer the client to a hospital after a postpartum hemorrhage.
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After the March 2023 death of AP's baby, Gordon submitted a midwife report, leading to an investigation by AZDHS.
Ten violations include the failure to call emergency medical services when labor failed to progress and the health and safety of the client and fetus became at risk.
Gordon surrendered her midwife license. We've reached out to her for comment, but have not heard back.
As for Braun, one stipulation on the proposed consent agreement says she would have to be supervised in her practice, coming out of her pocket.
Her attorney, Julie Gunnigle, says this would cause financial strain.
"I don’t think that it’s this board’s intention to place Ms. Braun permanently out of practice and that is one thing we are kind of worried about given these terms. You have 30 years a nurse, 20 years a midwife, thousands of babies. Nobody gets into this profession to have bad outcomes, although admittedly there is a terrible outcome here, albeit hours after Ms. Braun removed herself from care."
Instead, the board responded by summarily suspending Braun's license, taking away the opportunity for her to contest the action before it takes effect, saying the public must be protected, echoing a woman still grieving the loss of her grandbaby.
"I believe Karin’s childbirth practices is downright dangerous to the public, and I’m pleading with you to stop this nurse from harming another family," said the patient's mother.
The next hearing to address Braun's suspended license has been scheduled for July 1. Her lawyer has not responded to FOX 10's request for an interview at this time.