To find this desperately sad? TW: freebirth death

[ExtraHotDoubleShot]

I just feel so sad for her husband and little boy. I also understand why she didn’t want to go into hospital. Feels like women are stuck between a rock and a hard place with childbirth at the moment.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jun/20/stacey-warnecke-melbourne-influencer-died-freebirth-inquest-ntwnfb

I’m sure they are great at knowing the time frames but I assume with home births they’ll have to factor in the fact it may need removed manually in theatre. I imagine the time frame will be less because they’ll need to factor in calling and waiting for ambulance the drive to the hospital etc. they probably left me as long as possible as they just had to wheel me to the theatre. I can’t remember the time frame as it was years ago

@WhoGives2Fucks Quite possibly. My homebirth was at the height of Covid when everything was madness, and I remember feeling the urge to push out my placenta about 20-30 mins after birth; it wasn't instant. But no concerns at that point from either of my IMs. Breastfeeding instantly upon delivery and skin-to-skin also helped to kick it in.
I felt very reassured I had two incredibly experienced midwives with me and my baby to monitor for a substantial amount of time after delivery. And also my main IM to do all off my postnatal support daily for two weeks after the birth (NHS support was pretty much non-existent during Covid).

Yes I can understand that in a momentary panic way, but she was deteriorating for some time and was asked 3 times is she wanted an ambulance by her doula. Why didn’t he just call one? He was her husband. I can only assume he deferred to the doula as he misunderstood her role.

At one point, in the days after records started it was 50% of women who died in childbirth.

I was born in hospital but only because my mother's friend who was a midwife fudged some information about my brother's birth, my mother was in labour for 3 days with him.

At the time, 1966, and the area my parents lived only 1st babies and 4th routinely got hospital births.

Technically it was a Maternity home.

I am not saying that was better, but I am sure more midwives were experienced in home births.

Maternity care needs to improve both in and out of hospitals.

Freebirthing belongs with unschooling and activates.

@sashh The home birth rate in the UK is so low that unfortunately it won't be a priority for funding.
It only currently sits at around 2% of all births.
I had an IM for mine as the NHS home birth team was "pulled" back onto the wards over Covid.
I still think I would have paid for an IM, however, as I personally don't have much faith in NHS as a whole (due to other pregnancy-related events).

@sashh I wonder what it was about 4th births?
I have a feeling a MW said 4th births can often be slower than 3rd but that was just her thoughts.

It’s not just that article. She had a previous PPH, was anemic and susceptible to another. She had tested positive for Group B Strep and was expected to be on intravenous antibiotics during birth for her and her baby’s safety. She ignored all the risks and insisted on a home birth, despite having been referred to an obstetrician rather than just having midwife led care.

Women need to take accountability for the fact that childbirth and the physical aspects involved in labour and delivery is still a medical event, which requires hospitals and medication in many instances.

In many countries, midwives can and have to limit their homebirth patients to women who meet a low risk criteria. That isn't the case in this country. If a woman wants a homebirth, then midwives more or less have to provide her care.

It is a big source of conflict between US and UK midwives. US midwives can speak with a certainty about risk that UK midwives cannot because the US midwives get to choose their population. In some places, it is illegal for them to provide care past 42 weeks for example. They aren't allowed to do it. Here, if a sane woman wants a homebirth at 44 weeks, she can have one.

“Women need to take accountability for the fact that childbirth and the physical aspects involved in labour and delivery is still a medical event,”

Childbirth is fundamentally a natural physiological process. For healthy pregnancies, a physiological birth is a spontaneous, normal bodily event that typically requires minimal or no medical intervention.

Childbirth often becomes a medicalised procedure involving hospital settings, monitoring, pain relief or surgical interventions.

That's very unfair on the midwifes.
If you read the reports on the Manchester lady her MWs were set up to fail, previous PPH, strep B, anaemic.

I think the WM council need to step up and say they shouldn't be supporting 'out of guidelines' homebirth.
Actually the coroner also criticised that softly wording. He said it should be 'against medical advice' home birth.

Childbirth is also incredibly dangerous. How else are they meant to know who's at risk or which babies are at risk?

@Newname26 Risk assessment. Hb is only recommended for low-risk pregnancies and preferably not for a first labour.

Are you just ignoring the fact that the post you are ostensibly "replying" to is giving details of why the pregnancy in question was not a healthy pregnancy?: She had a previous PPH, was anemic and susceptible to another. She had tested positive for Group B Strep and was expected to be on intravenous antibiotics during birth for her and her baby’s safety. She ignored all the risks

Exactly. It can be incredibly dangerous for any young healthy woman as well. You just never know. The baby could get stuck, the baby could become distressed and its heart rate drop, the mother could start bleeding out etc etc. no way of predicting even with healthy pregnancies. That's why so many women died in childbirth at home over centuries before advances in medical care!

I know many very healthy young women who had complications during childbirth. Thankfully this was at hospital and they (and their babies) could all be saved.

@XelaM Totally ridiculous to compare births at home "centuries ago" to 2026!!
Same for in hospitals!!!

But the woman who the thread is about had no known medical issues?

Well, judging by the article of this particular birth - I struggle to see the difference?

@XelaM
Why are you lumping together all home births with free births?
Totally different.

That doesn’t change the evidence of their effectiveness though. They are not meant to be medically trained, they are meant to be supporting the birthing mother. My friend who was my birth partner had zero training or experience and she was incredible. The key criteria is being able to stay calm

@HollyTheHarrier No - the key criteria is being fully trained as midwives are. Doulas are not.

The woman this thread is about is a freebirther. Freebirthing means there are never any known medical issues because they don't get any assessments or checkups during pregnancy to find out whether there are any identifiable medical issues.

@KindlySurfiingPlatypus Indeed. And no support from a professional in labour.

Also, may I ask those of you so anti any home birth, what experience you have of it personally?
I had two hospital births and a home birth so feel in a good place to compare.

Well actually, something is happening local to me where a Trust has stopped homebirths citing the number of women having out of guidelines homebirths is part of what is making it unmanageable.

I have had two home births, second one an accident free birth. Both natural with no pain relief. For me, giving birth was not a medical event.