A longtime midwife whose career ended prematurely after she refused to receive a Covid-19 vaccination during the pandemic has been convicted after treating two expectant mothers while her licence was suspended. 

Henderson resident Irene Chain Kalinowski insisted during a four-day judge-alone trial in February that she helped a friend who shared her anti-vaccination stance to fill out forms for obstetric scans and bloodwork months in advance – shortly before November 15, 2021, when Kalinowski was barred from working in the profession due to the vaccine mandate. 

But her “dedication to her work and her desire to provide the best care” in a way discredited her defence, Judge Kathryn Maxwell noted in her written judgment finding Kalinowski guilty three months after the trial. Had she filled out the forms weeks or months in advance without the latest information about how the pregnancy had progressed, it would have been a dereliction of duty uncharacteristic of her past care, the judge suggested. 

Author and midwife Irene Chain Kalinowski was prosecuted for continuing to help two pregnant women after her career ended for refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine. 

Judge Maxwell’s decision, and a follow-up hearing earlier this month to determine the ex-midwife’s sentence, resulted in unusually feisty responses from the Auckland District Court gallery. Kalinowski, who also adheres to the fringe “sovereign citizen” movement, in which defendants claim judges have no jurisdiction over them, at times tried to talk over the judge as she was supported by jeers from the crowd. 

“See you at the military tribunals, darling,” she said as she left the courtroom at the end of the sentencing hearing, after the judge had already left the bench. 

Kalinowski had been charged with five counts of violating the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act. 

Authorities noticed in May 2022, six months after her retirement, a newsletter stating that a baby whose parents were unvaccinated “was safely birthed at home with the direct assistance of Irene Chain Kalinowski”. The defendant testified at her trial that the newsletter was incorrect and mention of her had been retracted after she filed a complaint. 

Authorities also tried to reach out to a woman dubbed HH in court documents, the subject of four of the five charges against Kalinowski. She refused to participate in the investigation, but her similar stance on vaccines “provides important context in this case”, the judge said. 

  “The term ‘victim’ may be a stretch in this case,” she explained, describing both expectant mothers as “complicit in what occurred”. 

But the medical forms with Kalinowski’s signature and details spoke for themselves, regardless of the expectant mother’s willingness to participate in the investigation, prosecutors argued. 

‘Unprecedented time in NZ history’ 

“There needs to be a deterrent element to this case,” said Crown prosecutor Haley Botha, representing the Ministry of Health. “Convictions [alone] in this case are unlikely to deter Irene or others from similar offending.” 

The judge and lawyers repeatedly referred to Kalinowsi by her first name – a lack of formality not usually seen in a courtroom but often sought by sovereign citizen defendants. 

The defendant’s “involvement in this pseudo-legal space” combined with her anti-authoritarian views may lead to further offending if the sentence wasn’t severe enough to send a message, Botha argued. While not a case that merits jail time, she suggested the judge impose a $4000 fine. 

Midwife Irene Chain Kalinowski was sentenced in Auckland District Court for continuing to work after the Covid-19 vaccine mandate, despite refusing the jab. 

“There are reasons a practising certificate is required,” she said as the gallery erupted in theatrical guffaws. “This is about public safety.” 

Although representing herself in court, Kalinowski allowed lawyer Chris Bernhardt, a court-appointed legal adviser, to speak on her behalf at sentencing. He noted the case was unique, having occurred at “an unprecedented time in New Zealand’s history”. 

The offending would have been more significant if it was someone untrained as a midwife who was pretending to be one, he said, describing Kalinowski as a “midwife in almost every respect” other than her recently lapsed registration. While the judge’s decision was clear that the law had been broken, Bernhardt said he didn’t know how that law could have been violated “in a more minimal way”. 

He asked for a conviction and discharge with no other fines or punishment, citing her lack of a prior criminal record and her 30-year “pro-social career as a midwife”. 

‘Magical thinking’ 

Bernhardt acknowledged Kalinowski had a “somewhat unique habit of filing documents with the court”, but the judge told him he didn’t have to address the issue because she intended to “put that to one side” while considering the sentence. 

Among her voluminous filings to the court was a “notice of repudiation and breach of trust” accusing the judge of having “failed to perform duties as a fiduciary” and having acted in bad faith. It was addressed to the judge and lawyers, as well as New Zealand elected officials and several United States government agencies including the IRS and the US Space Force. 

Another 47-page document submitted by Kalinowski purports to be the findings of a three-year investigation into the case by the “Uk office” of “InLandsAirWaterCounsel International” – an organisation that does not appear to exist. The document was not allowed at trial. 

“There should be a public apology that comes with compensation from all who have caused harm to Irene,” the report states. “Our office records the results of this investigation as malicious prosecution to be reported to the police.” 

The Southern Poverty Law Centre, a US-based civil rights advocacy group that researches and tracks extremist organisations, said the sovereign citizen movement has continued to see its ranks swell in recent years due in part to backlash against Covid-19 measures and the growth of the QAnon conspiracy movement. The movement dates back to 1971 and was founded by anti-government racists in the United States, according to the law centre. Over the past 50 years, the white supremacist emphasis has fallen away but mistrust in government remains a central tenant, the organisation reports. 

Followers are known for abusing the court system with what the advocacy groups term “paper terrorism” – gumming up the system with voluminous, often indecipherable, court filings. 

Another US advocacy group, the Anti-Defamation League, has also researched the movement’s court tactics. 

“Though, to a layperson, they often seem to have the form and appearance of legitimate legal documents, to judges, attorneys and others versed in the law, sovereign citizen claims and theories are typically little more than meaningless nonsense,” the organisation said in a report. “It is common for judges to characterise sovereign citizen documents or filings using terms such as ‘gibberish’ or ‘gobbledygook’.” 

The Anti-Defamation League described such documents as a form of “magical thinking”. 

“Like the way a wizard might assemble the ingredients and incantations for a spell, sovereign citizens string together legal terms and phrases, quotations from court cases, and other language and symbology in ways they think will allow them to become immune from laws and regulations, free of debts and obligations, or enabled to create their own money, courts, or even law enforcement agencies,” the group reports. “If they fail, they are told that it is just because they didn’t use the correct phrase or file the correct document.” 

‘Held accountable’ 

Kalinowski, an outspoken advocate of homeopathic midwifery who has authored multiple books on the subject, as well as fiction, walked out of the courtroom in May before the judge could finish announcing her findings of guilt. However, she remained in the courtroom throughout the recent sentencing hearing even after the judge reminded her several times that she was free to go if she wished. 

Allowed to make her own submissions on what her sentence should be, Kalinowski instead used the time to accuse the Ministry of Health of obstruction of justice and witness coercion and the court of allowing perjury – all allegations the judge would later dismiss as “colourful but without merit”. 

“That’s correct,” a supporter yelled from the public gallery as Kalinowski spoke. “We agree from the public inquiry.” 

She remained adamant she was right to have refused the Covid-19 vaccine and warned that “people will be held accountable”. 

“We know it’s a bio-weapon now. I would have been dead – maybe,” she said of the vaccine. “If I’d taken it we wouldn’t be here today. This is crimes against humanity. Crimes!” 

The gallery erupted in applause. 

Midwife Irene Chain Kalinowski, whose career ended after she chose not to get a Covid-19 vaccine, is the author of multiple books including My Body My Baby. 

Judge Maxwell acknowledged Kalinowski “has a strong sense of grievance about the findings in this case”, ignoring the defendant’s interjections that she had no authority. 

“No one could doubt her passion and dedication to the practice of midwifery,” the judge continued. “You were a dedicated professional for a number of years. To end your career under a cloud is a tragedy. 

“The offending arose at a time in New Zealand when emotions ran high and when there was an understandable divide in the community.” 

The judge described the offending as “clearly pre-meditated” but without sophistication. 

“In some respects, it was somewhat blatant,” she said, noting that Kalinowski put her home address on the forms. “There was no attempt to hide what you were doing.” 

She undermined a system that relies on trusting health practitioners, but a conviction is penalty enough without the need for fines to accompany it, the judge concluded. The sentence was exactly what the defence lawyer appointed to assist Kalinowski had asked for. The defendant and her supporters, however, appeared anything but relieved by the outcome. 

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.