Freebirthing, ‘wild’ pregnancies and the banned birth keeper

Emily Lal, a doula with no medical background, claimed on a 2021 podcast that she had the skills to assist women “if there was excessive bleeding or something out of the ordinary” during their birth.

Four years later, Melbourne woman Stacey Warnecke, a 30-year-old food influencer, died after experiencing these very complications.

Warnecke, also known as Stacey Hatfield, had a serious hemorrhage in September, reportedly after giving birth at home with no registered medical workers present, as she had chosen.

Two weeks later, Victoria’s Health Complaints Commission issued a public warning: “Ms Emily Lal, who is also known online as ‘the Authentic Birthkeeper’” was under investigation after allegations were made that Lal “is facilitating and/or participating in homebirths which may put both mothers and babies at risk”.

“The commissioner reasonably believes that Ms Lal may have contravened the code of conduct as set out in schedule 2 of the Health Complaints Act 2016, and that it is necessary to publish this warning statement to avoid an imminent and serious risk to the health, safety or welfare of the public,” the commission said.

Doulas, or “birth keepers”, are not permitted to provide any clinical care to women during childbirth but are often hired to give emotional or physical comfort to women who have chosen to join the small but growing cohort of “freebirthing” mothers.

Three senior healthcare sources with close knowledge of Warnecke’s case have told this masthead that Lal attended Frankston Hospital with Warnecke as she was rushed in for emergency treatment.

The Age has made numerous attempts to contact Lal. It has not been confirmed whether she guided Warnecke’s birth or was present when the complications began.

Lal has previously publicly stated she had the skills to assist women giving birth. “I do have the knowledge behind me that if there are complications that arise, I can assist,” she told The Matrescence podcast in an episode on birthing outside the system.

Unlike homebirths, which are attended by two registered midwives and generally considered safe for low-risk pregnancies, freebirths take place without medical professionals. It is a legal right, and one maternity academics say is gaining in popularity – though still unusual.

Two health sources say Warnecke was treated for a significant postpartum hemorrhage when she arrived at Frankston Hospital, in Melbourne’s south-east, on September 29 after choosing to have a freebirth at her Seaford home. She arrived at the hospital in a critical state.

Staff desperately tried to save Warnecke by performing surgery to stop the bleeding but were unsuccessful. Her baby son, Axel, survived.

The Age tried unsuccessfully to contact Warnecke’s family.

Freebirth is gaining popularity as social media influencers promote the benefits of a natural birth without unwanted medical interventions. Risks are minimised in passionate testimonials by women who have had their babies this way, but concerns have been raised about some doulas performing tasks well outside their scope.

Last week, this masthead revealed that Australia’s nursing and midwifery board was considering what safety measures it could introduce to prevent dangerous freebirths.

Frankston Hospital is understood to have reported Lal – who has deleted her Authentic Birthkeeper Instagram account – to the Health Complaints Commissioner.

On October 21, the commissioner issued an interim prohibition notice banning Lal from providing any health service.

The birthing influencer was also mentioned at the August coronial inquest into the 2022 death of a newborn, known as Baby E, who died following a prolonged freebirth in a bacteria-filled inflatable pool rented from Lal.

Baby E’s mother said she was in contact with Lal after the birth, with one text message to Lal saying: “We can’t wake her, we aren’t sure if she’s breathing.”

The woman then sent Lal a photo showing the baby’s face was blue. “Ms Lal reportedly viewed [the baby] via FaceTime and then told [the mother] to call 000 for an ambulance,” the coroner said.

It was a miscarriage between two of Lal’s own pregnancies that cemented her commitment to freebirthing, according to comments she made on The Matrescence podcast.

“I didn’t rely on the medical system,” she said. “We can do this at home and without all the interventions.”

Lal described controversial former homebirth midwife Martina Gorner as her friend and mentor.

Gorner, whom The Age attempted to interview, was permanently banned from the profession after an autopsy found a clear link between the death of a baby and her delays in sending the mother to hospital.

She is understood to have been Lal’s private midwife during one of her pregnancies. Lal told a podcast she had to transfer to another midwife after Gorner was suspended from practising due to her role in the delivery of surprise twins during a homebirth.

The twins’ mother had refused ultrasounds during her pregnancy and was unaware she was carrying two babies. Although they were born healthy, they were transported to hospital by ambulance after one developed breathing issues.

Speaking on another podcast hosted by freebirthing advocate Natalie Rees, The Renegade Mama, Lal discussed the virtues of “wild” pregnancy, in which women have no pre-natal appointments or other checks.

Lal told this podcast in 2023 that she had two wild pregnancies.

She said she was pregnant with her third child when she was asked by a woman in the freebirthing community to visit her home, and arrived as paramedics were attempting to revive the woman’s baby, which had died after a freebirth.

Lal told the podcast the mother was not a client of hers but was someone with whom she had formed a connection.

Despite witnessing this, Lal said she would still never seek medical care during one of her own pregnancies.

“I realised that even though I had this fear of death coming up, not even for a split second did I think hiring a medical professional or hiring a midwife would be protective against that,” she told the podcast.

“I really felt that if my baby dies, would I change anything I had done with my care or the way that I birthed my babies? And the answer was no, it really wouldn’t change anything for me.”

Lal is so confident that medical interference is unnecessary that she told Rees that even when she had “a pretty bad fall” off her bike midway through her third pregnancy and was hurt badly enough to take a week to recover, she did not consider getting a check-up.

“That week I was like, God, have I injured the baby?” she said. “You know I have wild pregnancies, and I thought there’s no point going and finding out if anything has changed because I thought there’s nothing I can do about it at 20-some weeks.” She kept going, she said, and everything was fine.

Lal also told Rees that she was confident she could deliver her third baby in a freebirth with only her husband present, even though the baby was in the breech position until the day of delivery.

Safer Care Victoria, the agency that assists in improving the state’s health system, advises that elective caesarean section for a singleton breech baby at term “has been shown to reduce perinatal and neonatal mortality rates”. It states that planning for vaginal breech birth requires “careful assessment of suitability criteria, contraindications and the ability of the service to provide experienced personnel”.

A spokesman for Safer Care Victoria said the decision to freebirth was often influenced by trauma, cultural preferences or limited access to preferred care.

He said that as freebirths occur outside the health system, they can delay birth registration, which affects Victoria’s birth records and available data.

“Regardless of where a woman gives birth, having a registered and trained clinician present means having immediate access to urgent care if needed – ensuring the safety and best outcome for both mothers and babies,” the spokesman said.

Associate Professor Shyaman Menon, chief medical officer of Peninsula Health, which runs Frankston Hospital, said he was unable to comment on individual cases due to patient privacy.

“We echo Safer Care Victoria’s recommendations and encourage women to undertake their care with an [Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency]-registered maternity provider during pregnancy, birth and postnatally – to ensure their preferences are taken into account in the safest way possible for both mother and baby,” he said.

Menon said the health service always welcomes pregnant, birthing or postnatal women and their babies who need to transfer their care to its service.

He said these patients always received care and support that was respectful of their wishes and autonomy, without bias.

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