Newborn died after lengthy ‘freebirth’ in home pool

A newborn died after her mother spent close to 39 hours in a hired, bacteria-filled pool at home giving birth without medical help.

A coroner said the 41-year-old woman’s prolonged “freebirth” probably contributed to the preventable death of her baby in 2022.

A finding on the death, released on Thursday, said the mother fell pregnant in March 2022 and did not see a doctor for regular antenatal tests or scans but reported feeling fantastic.

During the only medical visit during her pregnancy, at 36 weeks, the mother, who cannot be named due to a court order, declined a blood screen or ultrasound, telling the GP she had a “team” organising her birth.

The mother said her reason for visiting the GP that day was to ascertain whether there was one heartbeat or two.

“[She] described the remainder of her pregnancy as “smooth and uneventful” and she did not notice anything out of the ordinary,” coroner Catherine Fitzgerald said.

During this time, the mother saw an Instagram post on a page called The Authentic Birthkeeper, run by Emily Lal, which advertised birthing pools for hire and she later obtained one.

The mother went into labour about 7.30am on December 27, 2022. She spent the entire day and night in the birthing pool, and most of the next day. The baby was born about 10.30pm on December 28, 2022.

The coroner said the parents then went to bed with the child in their arms, without first delivering the placenta or cutting the cord. The next morning, the mother checked on the baby and thought she felt a heartbeat, but upon reflection, believes she was feeling her own heartbeat through her fingers.

An ambulance was called at 8.20am and the baby girl was soon declared dead.

“[The parents] noted that there appeared to be something wrong with baby sometime between 6.30am and 7.50am,” Fitzgerald said.

The mother said she was in contact with Lal with one text message saying, “we can’t wake her, we aren’t sure if she’s breathing”. The woman then sent a picture 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.

After the baby’s death, forensic pathologist Yeliena Baber examined the placenta and found signs of inflammation and the infection of fetal membranes.

“In addition, there was evidence of meconium exposure, and a recent marginal haemorrhage. These are all risk factors for a poor neonatal outcome,” the coroner said.

Baber found the extent of meconium, the first stool of a newborn, in the baby’s lungs and on her skin showed she “was likely in distress for some time” and exposed to the meconium for “many hours”.

A type of bacteria was also found in the baby’s lungs, likely contracted from the plastic birthing pool.

“Baber concluded that if [the baby] was born in hospital and [the mother] had received appropriate antenatal care it is highly unlikely that [the baby] would have died. Similarly, if a trained midwife had been present at the home birth for the prolonged labour, it would be expected that they would escalate care to a hospital if it was clear that the baby was in distress,” the coroner wrote.

Fitzgerald found that the girl’s death “was unlikely to have occurred if the birth occurred in a hospital setting, and it may also have been avoided if the birth was a planned homebirth with appropriate midwife support”.

She recommended the Department of Health update its websites with Safer Care Victoria’s water birth guidelines.

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