The complainant became pregnant with her third child early in 2013 and engaged the midwife, who had also provided maternity care for her during her second pregnancy.
The midwife and the patient's partner bumped into each other in mid-2013 at their local shops, drank beer at a nearby park and "engaged in kissing and fondling", the patient told the commissioner.
Within weeks, a sexual relationship had begun. The midwife admitted to the commissioner that the relationship had taken place.
The patient said she had begun to suspect the relationship towards the end of the pregnancy, but didn't find out until after the baby was born, when she read text messages on her partner's phone.
"The final two months of my pregnancy were horrible," the patient said. "I was working, I had two small children and I thought I was going crazy to be thinking that my midwife and so-called friend was sleeping with the father of my children.
"I literally thought I was losing my mind. I was paranoid and in a high state of anxiety.
"I went into shock, I could not believe that two people who were supposed to care for me could possibly be so horrible and act with such disregard."
She considered changing midwife but was "too overwhelmed" and convinced herself that she had been wrong.
The midwife told Mr Hill that the patient, upon finding the text messages, texted her. She tried to arrange a meeting to apologise, but the patient asked the midwife to cease contact with her.
Mr Hill's midwifery adviser, Billie Bradford, said a midwife's having an affair with a patient's partner "undermines the primacy of the midwife's professional relationship with the woman ... and is not only disempowering but also potentially detrimental to the woman's emotional and psychological wellbeing."
Penalties
The maximum penalties if found guilty of professional misconduct by the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal:
*Cancellation of registration by the Midwifery Council
*$30,000 fine
