With a box of tissues by her side on the witness stand, Amanda Bell went through the details of the home birth that led to her infant’s death and jeopardized her own health under the care of an unlicensed midwife.

Bell, wearing a blue T-shirt that read, “Life will be beautiful again,” shared her story Monday before Porter Superior Court Judge Mary Harper, attorneys from the Indiana Attorney General’s office and midwife Julie Lentz, who told Harper she did not yet have legal representation.

“I was in a lot of pain. I told (Lentz) I didn’t understand and she kept encouraging me,” Bell, 32, said through tears, adding that Lentz assured her that the baby, who had been breech, now had its head down. “Everything was hurting so bad, and I didn’t expect it to hurt so bad. It felt like the baby was going to come out of my stomach. She kept telling me everything was normal.”

After Lentz told Bell, of Valparaiso, and Bell’s husband to tell paramedics her water broke in the last 24 hours, and not 10 days previously, that her vitals and the baby’s were normal, and that she was dilated 5 to 6 centimeters, the couple called an ambulance, and a doctor conducted ultrasound and other tests for a heartbeat.

“The doctor apologized to me because there was no heartbeat,” Bell said, adding she underwent a cesarean section under general anesthesia. “When I woke up I had burning pain in my stomach and several intravenous pain medicines. (The doctor) told me I was lucky to be alive, that I had one of the worst infections she’d seen in 10 years of practice.”

After hearing Bell’s testimony and reviewing the two exhibits submitted by prosecutors, including a printout that attorney Jacob Murray, with the Indiana Attorney General’s office, said showed Lentz had neither a license to practice as a nurse midwife nor certification to be a certified direct entry midwife, as well as the contract Bell signed with Lentz, Harper granted the state’s request for an injunction against Lentz to practice until the case reaches its conclusion.

“The evidence suggests that medical services were provided for compensation and the testimony was replete with what those services were,” Harper said, adding prosecutors met their burden of proof. “You are hereby enjoined from acting in any consumer actions or midwifery as you do not have, based on the evidence presented here today, the appropriate state license. The allegations are true.”

Speaking softly and with her hair up, Lentz, of Chesterton, said she did not have any questions about the order and replied “I understand” when Harper told her she is not to engage in any of the prohibited actions.

Harper recommended that if Lentz is going to get council, “do so soon,” because the discovery process would be lengthy.

The Indiana Attorney General’s office filed its complaint against Lentz, who does business as Sacred Lotus Midwifery Services, late last month for practicing without the proper licensing after Bell’s experience in early May, according to court documents.

“At best, Lentz was unable to identify the life-threatening circumstances unfolding in front of her. At worst, her care as a midwife caused or contributed to the resulting injury and death,” court documents state.

The Monday ruling by Harper came after she granted 10-day temporary restraining order against Lentz on June 28, preventing her from operating as a midwife in Indiana.

Bell testified that the contract she signed with Sacred Lotus included a clause that Lentz was not a licensed midwife and did not carry malpractice insurance.

“She told me she was not licensed but the PMA (primary member association) allowed her to practice legally,” Bell said.

Lentz, according to the documents, claims she is exempt from governmental licensing requirements because she operates in a “private membership association” called Dar a Luz and requires each person who wants to use her as a midwife to join her association. “Lutz claims that within the PMA, the midwife-client relationship is a private transaction that is outside the scope of public laws.”

Bell acknowledged that she joined the PMA, though Lentz never provided her a contract for the association.

The attorney general’s office also is seeking civil penalties and court costs.

Criminal charges could be forthcoming as well, officials said.

Porter County Prosecutor Gary Germann, who sat in on Lentz’s hearing, said he will be asking the sheriff’s department to conduct an investigation into the case but “we are just in the preliminary stages right now.”

In addition to the civil matter, the Indiana Attorney General’s office also has filed a motion to cease and desist against Lentz before the Indiana State Board of Nursing, which has agreed to hear the motions at a hearing likely be held on July 18, according to a release from that office.

If the motion is granted, Lentz would be ordered to cease the practice of midwifery.