'It's a really, really disturbing feeling': Ontario doulas recount experience being misled by woman claiming to need their service

Warning: This story includes details that may be disturbing to some readers

At least a dozen doulas have come forward and said they were victims to Kaitlyn Braun – a 24-year-old Brantford woman facing dozens of criminal charges after police said she sought the help of registered doulas for pregnancies and stillbirths that turned out to be fake.

Those who came forward said they feel like their compassion has been taken advantage of and hope other victims will step forward so Braun will be brought to justice.

Doulas from across southern Ontario spoke to CTV News Kitchener after Braun was arrested Tuesday by Brantford police, who said they believed there may be more victims who had not come forward.

“I kinda enjoyed my time that I spent with her. It’s a really, really disturbing feeling like I did feel quite violated,” Abigail Dienesch, a Bowmanville-Based Doula said.

Dienesch believes she is Braun’s most recent victim.

Abigail Dienesch, a doula from the Bowmanville, Ont. area said she was with Braun when a call from police came it. (Submitted by Abigail Dienesch)

“Pretty much from the day she messaged me, we were talking 24/7 on Instagram, mostly providing a lot of emotional support for her at the time,” Dienesch said.

The Bowmanville doula says she was contacted by Braun late last month via Instagram sharing that she was pregnant with a stillborn as a result of a sexual assault.

The two bonded through their supposed mutual faith.

“We prayed together, I sent her scripture she told me how comforting it was to know that person who was supporting her was also Christian and then got connected to my church, and also had one of the pastors there messaging with her often,” said Dienesch.

Dienesch said Braun relied on the fact the two of them were Christians.

“It was emotionally exhausting,” Dienesch said. “Like, before I was even in person with her - just messaging because everything was so heavy and everything seemed to keep getting worse.”

It was only last week when Dienesch said Braun’s story began to unravel when Braun said she was beginning to have contractions and she had to go to the hospital.

Dienesch said Braun told her the hospital turned her away because her contractions had stalled, so they went to the mall the next day.

POLICE GET INVOLVED

It was during an outing to the mall when Dienesch said Braun received a call from police.

“When she got off the phone call she actually told me - she was crying she was very upset - she told me that she [had] spoken with the police and that her name came up in an investigation,” she said.

Adding: “Things kinda froze for me, and I’m thinking about all these previous red flags that I had noticed.”

Dienesch then stumbled on Tik Tok videos about Braun, and she left the mall immediately, out $800 for her time.

“Obviously, I would have never guessed that someone would go to those lengths to fake that,” said Dienesch.

Police say they're releasing the name of the accused because investigators believe there may be more victims.

"I know that there are at least six [victims] that I’m aware of," Brantford police spokesperson Robin Matthews-Osmond said. "We do anticipate that there are more, which is why we released the name of this individual."

"I JUST WANT HER TO STOP"

Seanna Hayes, a London-based doula said Braun reached out to her back in August, her first-ever client and supported her pro-bono for three days.

“No close friends, or anyone to support her, so she was all alone is what she told me,” Hayes said.

Much like other doulas who have shared their story, Braun’s contractions seemed real until her story of going to the hospital started to fall apart.

Seanna Hayes, a London-based doula said she was approached by Braun to proivde her services. (Submitted by Seanna Hayes)

“She does the bedside ultrasound, and it shows no baby, and the OB says that the imaging she had done three weeks prior in Hamilton also showed no baby,” said Hayes.

Hayes along with Dienesch said they are aware of dozens of doulas who have been traumatized by Braun.

“I just want her to stop. It’s not about punishment for me, it's about protecting other doulas and making sure nobody goes through what I went through,” said Hayes.

Hayes said when Braun contacted her she was ecstatic because it was the first person who had contacted her requesting her services as a doula.

“I basically convinced myself and I even told myself ‘when you get there she will obviously be pregnant,’ like, you will be able to tell and she opened the door and I was like defeated because I couldn’t tell,” Hayes recalled.

Hayes said the trust between a doula and a client is important, and she believes that trust was broken.

“Her labour and her contractions were so convincing and what was going through my mind was how could someone fake this?” she said.

Hayes said it’s been hard to move on from this experience, and has led to her questioning some

“It’s been really hard to move on from that and not question every decision I'm making,” said Hayes. It’s been really hard to trust my gut because my gut told me something was wrong with her, and now my gut is telling me that everything is wrong with everyone because I was duped so completely.”

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

Braun is facing the following charges:

• Criminal harassment (10 counts)
• False pretenses (12 counts)
• Fraud (4 counts)
• Sexual assault (3 counts)
• Indecent act (3 counts)
• She is scheduled to appear for a bail hearing Friday.