A hospital exhausted its supply of a wellness influencer\u2019s blood type in an unsuccessful attempt to save her life as she bled uncontrollably after a free birth at home, a court has been told.<\/p>\n
Stacey Warnecke, 30, was with her husband, Nathan Warnecke, and unregulated doula Emily Lal when she delivered her son at her Melbourne home on 29 September.<\/p>\n
The baby boy was healthy but Warnecke\u2019s condition rapidly declined and an ambulance was called about 4.30am, the Victorian coroner\u2019s court was told on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Paramedics arrived to find Warnecke looking yellow and struggling to breathe as she sat on the floor near the birthing pool, counsel assisting Rachel Ellyard said.<\/p>\n
She was taken to Frankston hospital but could not be saved.<\/p>\n
It is suspected she died from complications after a postpartum haemorrhage, Ellyard said.<\/p>\n
Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n The hospital\u2019s supply of her blood type was completely exhausted during doctors\u2019 attempts to save her, the court was told.<\/p>\n Warnecke\u2019s death was reported to police and Nathan Warnecke provided a statement to detectives, but Lal refused.<\/p>\n When officers went to examine Warnecke\u2019s home the next day, they also found the house had been extensively cleaned by Lal.<\/p>\n Warnecke elected not to receive any health care during her pregnancy, including declining ultra sounds and appointments with a midwife or obstetrician.<\/p>\n She wanted to give birth at home and contacted Lal, who also promoted herself as a free birth \u201ckeeper\u201d on social media.<\/p>\n A free birth, sometimes called a wild or unassisted birth, differs from a planned home birth<\/a>, which involves care from registered health professionals. There are many publicly funded home birth programs<\/a> around Australia.<\/p>\n Warnecke\u2019s interactions with Lal will form part of the coroner\u2019s investigation into her death, Ellyard said.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old\u2019s thoughts on the healthcare system, the decisions around her birth plan and broader attitudes following the Covid-19 pandemic will also be examined in a future inquest.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Breaking News Australia<\/p>\n Get the most important news as it breaks<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n The court was told Warnecke was a qualified nutritionist who promoted a healthy and \u201cchemical-free\u201d lifestyle on social media.<\/p>\n It appeared she was profoundly affected by the Covid mandates and those concerns influenced her decision-making during pregnancy and birth, Ellyard said.<\/p>\n