A wellness influencer died from severe blood loss after having a free birth at home, an Australian court has been told.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stacey Warnecke, 30, was with her husband Nathan and unregulated doula Emily Lal when she delivered her son at her Melbourne home on September 29.<\/p>\n
The little boy was healthy but Warnecke’s condition rapidly declined and an ambulance was called about 4.30am, the Victorian Coroners 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 rushed to Frankston Hospital but could not be saved.<\/p>\n
It’s suspected she died from complications following a postpartum haemorrhage, Ellyard said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The hospital’s supply of her blood type was completely exhausted during doctors’ attempts to save her, the court was told.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Warnecke’s death was reported to police and her husband Nathan provided a statement to detectives but Lal refused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When officers went to examine Warnecke’s home the next day, they also found the house had been extensively cleaned by Lal.<\/p>\n
Warnecke’s interactions with Lal will form part of the coroner’s investigation into her death, Ellyard said.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old’s thoughts on the health care 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
The court was told Warnecke was a qualified nutritionist who promoted a healthy and “chemical-free” lifestyle on social media.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It appeared she was profoundly affected by the Covid-19 mandates and those concerns influenced her decision-making during pregnancy and birth, Ellyard said.<\/p>\n
Warnecke elected not to receive any health care during her pregnancy, including declining ultra sounds and appointments with a midwife or obstetrician.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wanted to give birth at home and contacted Lal, who also promoted herself as a free birth “keeper” on social media.<\/p>\n
Victoria’s Health Complaints Commissioner announced in October it was investigating Lal over allegations she was facilitating or participating in homebirths that could put mothers and babies at risk.<\/p>\n
Ellyard said the coroner would be seeking a statement from Lal, as well as the paramedics, doctors and nurses who treated Warnecke. <\/p>\n
The case will return to the coroners court in March for a further directions hearing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A wellness influencer died from severe blood loss after having a free birth at home, an Australian court…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-176971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-australia","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}