A woman who previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges for faking pregnancies and deceiving doulas has promised to never work as a social worker again.
Kaitlyn Braun, from Brantford, Ont., appeared in front of a disciplinary committee for the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers on Aug. 10.
Braun was accused of professional misconduct under the Social Work and Social Service Work Act.
According to disciplinary committee documents, Braun obtained doula services under false pretenses, telling doulas she had been sexually assaulted or was experiencing a miscarriage or stillbirth, sending a photo of a stillborn baby to a doula and not paying for services provided by doulas between June 2022 and March 2023.
Some victims tried to help Braun over the course of multiple days. One doula said she racked up a bill of close to $6,000 in uncompensated time and expenses while working for Braun.
A doula is a person who provides guidance or support while a person is experiencing labour.
The documents also said “while [Braun was] naked or partially naked, [she] coerced a doula to perform a massage on [her], including [her] back or buttocks,” and “while [she] was shirtless, [she] used a breast pump in front of a doula.”
At Braun’s criminal trial, one doula said her relationship with Braun had a profound impact on her life and her career.
“I am afraid of trusting social workers. I am afraid of gaining new clients. I am afraid of being triggered at a birth,” the unnamed victim said.
Braun’s social worker history
The disciplinary documents state Braun earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2020 and later registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.
Between Oct. 21, 2021 and July 18, 2022, she worked as a residential counsellor at Haldimand & Norfolk Women’s Services (HNWS).
“On Aug. 17, 2022, the college received a report of termination regarding the registrant from HNWS,” the hearing document said. “The report outlined various concerns from the reporter regarding the registrant’s conduct while employed at HNWS, including concerns that she had made an inappropriate/threatening comment to a colleague and fabricated and/or lied about several things, including telling the organization that her mother was in a coma and later died.”
In October 2022, the college received reports that Braun had been faking pregnancies or labour to obtain doula services.
Months later, on March 15, 2023, the college heard from a Brantford Police Service constable who said Braun had been criminally charged.
Criminal trial
In addition to the charges involving doulas, Braun was also accused of submitting a false sexual assault report.
In February 2023, Braun went to Brantford General Hospital to have a sexual assault evidence kit completed.
She provided a sworn videotaped statement to police detailing the alleged sexual assault, but later that same day, she sent an email to a detective and confessed that she had made it up.
On Dec. 7, 2023 Braun pleaded guilty to one count of public mischief related to the false sexual assault report.
She also pleaded guilty to four counts of committing an indecent act, 11 counts of obtaining services by false pretense and five counts of fraud. Those charges involved 13 doulas in Ontario, Alberta and the United States.
On Feb. 14, 2024 she was sentenced to two years less a day of house arrest, followed by three years of probation. She was also required to undergo therapy.
Two months later, Braun reached out to a charitable organization that supports parents in crisis. She said her name was Kate Baker and she was 19 weeks pregnant with a baby that would not make it to full term. She spent about 19 hours on the phone with a volunteer.
Ten days later, she began texting a Hamilton-based doula and called herself Jessica Baker. The two exchanged about 600 messages over three days.
She was arrested by Hamilton Police on April 30, 2024 and pleaded guilty to four new charges.
The judge accepted a joint submission by the Crown and defence recommending a five-year sentence, despite expressing concern in a previous hearing about Braun’s ability to seek rehabilitation behind bars. The defence, however, argued that it was the sentence Braun wanted.
“The client gave very clear instructions, she can get DBT [Dialectical Behavior Therapy] in the penitentiary,” he told the court. “She wants to just deal with things, wants to start doing her real time and wants to get assistance.”
Braun’s criminal history was discussed as part of the disciplinary committee decision.
“She exploited her victim’s trust and empathy”
Braun admitted to all of the misconduct allegations set out by the disciplinary committee.
“She further admits that this conduct was relevant to her suitability to practice [as a social worker] and that, having regard to all the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by registrants as disgraceful, dishonourable and unprofessional,” the document said.
Although her crimes did not involve social work clients, the panel believed “her conduct was relevant to her suitability to practise social work and to the profession as a whole.”
“[Braun’s] crimes strike at the core values of the social work profession: honesty, integrity and respect for the intrinsic worth of all people,” the decision stated. “Over a period of months, [Braun] fabricated pregnancies and, in some cases, false claims of sexual assault, in order to solicit the practical and emotional support of doulas - individuals who, like social workers, provide care and support to those they believe to be in need. She exploited her victims’ trust and empathy, in some cases requiring them to attend on her, unpaid, over multiple days while she feigned labour, and in some cases subjecting them to further indignities, including coercing massages while she was partially or fully unclothed, using a breast pump in their presence, and sending them a photo of a stillborn baby.”
The hearing documents said several of the doulas that Braun deceived later left the profession entirely because of what they experienced.
Braun resigned from the college and permanently gave up her certificate of registration. She also agreed to never re-apply for registration, never seek reinstatement of her qualifications, and to ever again practice social work or social service in any jurisdiction.
She must also pay the college $5,000 in $200 instalments, and the full cost must be paid within five years.
