Hospital Exhausted Blood In an Attempt to Save Wellness Social Media Figure's Life Following Unassisted Home Birth, Coroner Is Told.
A medical facility exhausted its supply of a wellness influencer's specific blood type in a unsuccessful bid to rescue her as she experienced massive hemorrhaging following a unassisted home delivery, a court has learned.
Stacey Warnecke, aged 30, was accompanied by her spouse, Nathan Warnecke, and an unregulated birth attendant named Emily Lal when she gave birth to her son at her Melbourne home on the 29th of September.
Her newborn son was in good health, but the mother's state rapidly declined and an ambulance was summoned around 4:30 in the morning, the hearing was informed on Wednesday.
Ambulance officers arrived to find the woman looking yellow and having difficulty breathing as she sat on the ground near the water birth tub, counsel assisting Rachel Ellyard stated.
She was transported to the local hospital but her life could not be saved.
The preliminary finding suggests she succumbed to severe complications following a postpartum haemorrhage, the counsel explained.
The hospital’s supply of her blood group was completely exhausted during doctors’ efforts to stabilize her, the inquest was told.
The fatality was reported to police, and Nathan Warnecke provided a statement to detectives, but Lal refused.
When officers went to inspect the birth scene the following day, they discovered the house had been thoroughly cleaned up by Lal.
Decisions Around Prenatal Healthcare
The woman elected not to receive any form of prenatal care during her term, including refusing ultrasounds and appointments with a midwife or doctor.
She desired to deliver at home and engaged the doula, who described herself as a free birth “keeper” on social media.
A so-called "wild" birth, sometimes called a birth without medical attendants, differs from a planned home birth, which involves care from registered health professionals.
The relationship and communications with Lal will form part of the coroner’s investigation into her passing, Ellyard said.
Her views on the medical establishment, the decisions around her delivery plan and wider perspectives in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic will also be examined in a future inquest.
Context and Current Inquiry
The inquest was informed that the woman was a qualified nutritionist who promoted a healthy and “natural” way of life on social media.
Evidence suggests she was deeply influenced by pandemic-related restrictions and those concerns influenced her choices during pregnancy and birth, counsel added.
Earlier this year, the state health regulator announced that it was investigating Lal over concerns she was involved in home births that could pose a danger to women and infants.
The coroner would be requesting testimony from Lal, as well as from the paramedics, doctors and nurses who treated the patient, Ellyard was told.
This matter will be back before the coroner in March for a further directions hearing.
