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 know I'm ridiculous! I'm not parent of the decade in any way. I'm sure you're being sarcastic but she nearly didn't get in after her A level was wrongly marked and she made it! And I'm so proud I keep talking about it unnecessarily. She's only just gone so it's all exciting 😂

Anyway I'll shut up now.

My point was I have healthy children from safe home births. But free births are a different proposition.

Absolutely this.

I think sadly a lot of people who choose to freebirth probably would have a private midwife if they could afford it as they’re better trained for home birth scenarios than community midwives, more positive about homebirth, and don’t push for unnecessary interventions like induction.

I do believe if more areas had proper trained and dedicated homebirth teams (Leicestershire has an incredible one) whether that would stop more people wanting to freebirth or hire doulas.

That's not what she said at all.

In places such as the UK and Australia, we are fortunate enough to have access to trained, skilled professionals, and - when needed - equipment and operating theatres staffed by highly trained professionals. I am adding to the list of people who can NOT understand why any woman in those countries that have such facilities and staff would choose not to take advantage of them.

I doubt anyone would say maternity services, and indeed (here in the UK) the NHS as a whole doesn't have huge problems, or that there aren't all sorts of aspects that could be improved, but we are still so much better off than women in so many countries who don't have access to maternity care offered by skilled professionals, and the mortality rates are so much higher.

The point is, if you can access all of that, then to choose not to is beyond comprehension.

I don’t know the circumstances of this case but I do know I’ve had terrible experiences of birth with consultants wanting to do lots of intervention that they even admitted in birth debriefs were unnecessary and they acted wrongly. I’m now pregnant with my third and am pushing for the midwife led unit as I don’t trust consultants and don’t want them anywhere near me unless it’s an emergency (which neither of mine were). I can totally see why women want to avoid hospitals and there is not enough community support for that. Of course some pregnancies and births are high risk but not all, and we have a 50% c section rate in places which is just outrageous frankly.

Of course it isn't. I was just offering an explanation as to why this woman might have decided not to go to a hospital.

There's a lot of stuff out there on the internet about the cascade of interventions and how you must avoid hospitals and doctors at all costs. There's a scary documentary about the "free birth" movement and the women that have been sucked into it and had tragic outcomes.

It seems like two mentally ill women made some very poor choices, culminating in one of them paying the ultimate price. Extremely sad all round.

Hardly anyone is eligible for them though. Unless everything is perfect on paper they won’t do it. High BMI, slightly high reading of anything, slightly large/small baby, slightly anything and you’re ’high risk’ and have to go to labour ward.

My first birth was so traumatic I ended up being referred to a psychiatrist because of it. I wasn't depressed I was traumatised. I couldn't have sex for a whole year afterwards as it triggered flashbacks. I nearly got divorced because of it.

My second birth was great. Turns out birthing doesn't have to be traumatic if you have decent medical care. With my first (straightforward, medically easy) birth I saw 20 different midwives, about 3 or 4 during my not even particularly long labour. It was just a rotating door of spectators. Deeply humiliating and massively ableist for autistic me.

I paid a lot of money to have an independent midwife for my second. She was great and last I heard was professor of Midwifery at her teaching hospital.

You can advocate for one though even if you're not textbook. I was eligible but I would have gone to hospital if they had said they recommended it. I don't think these birth attendants should be allowed as a substitute for medical care. As an addition - fine.

This is awful :( I remember something similar happened in Ireland a few years ago, mother died from PPH during a free birth. Devastating.

You can but they can decline. My medical care in hospital was so poor though I wouldn’t have trusted the same people but in a more remote location. I wouldn’t have trusted them if something had gone wrong.

💯. How the hell are women stuck between a rock and hard place??

Feel sorry for the child due to stupid decisions!

Your response was surprisingly adorable actually 😄

Do you think your chances of survival with a massive bleed would be better with no medical care?

Obviously with, but huge bleeds are more common after interventions anyway. The ‘cascade’ is very real. Very hard to balance it all and ultimately didn’t go this lady’s way. So sad.

This woman’s decision was stupid, and clearly the ‘more common’ stat meant nothing anyway. Anyone can have a bleed, your chances of survival are far higher with medical care being accessed quickly

I thought you could be prosecuted for neglect or something if you fail to act in a situation like that ? If you dont help in a life threatening situation. Neglect or negligence or something. I thought thsat was z thing.

It’s unbelievable arrogance playing with your life, your baby’s life and the impact it has on your family. I’m absolutely in support of homebirth/choices but this notion is just absurd. Birth goes wrong for so many people in so many ways and we are lucky in this day and age to have access to the care that can and does save us. My body absolutely did not know what to do, and without specialist care my baby and I would have both died before the baby was delivered. Same for 5/8 women in my NCT group, all for different reasons. My birth story was a horror show and I’m definitely nervous to do it again, but best believe there will be medical professionals in attendance.

Very sad and not a decision I understand but I choose an elective c section with as many drugs as I could get. But I just can’t understand putting your baby at risk.

A colleague of mine almost lost her DIL and unborn grandson during childbirth in Australia a couple of years ago. The hospital refused to admit her despite her waters breaking and reduced foetal movement. By the time she was finally admitted, both mum and baby had sepsis and it was touch and go for a while.

Her DIL is now pregnant again and she is seriously concerned about another hospital birth. They are looking at private midwife care or a doula. Who can blame them.

I guess I was a sort of free birth. Born at home with no medical care until the very last minute. Apparently the family Labrador stood in until the midwives turned up. My dad was worse than useless.

That's going to be a big question for the court.
Did she release the lady she paid 6 grand to had no medical knowledge?

Or an intense belief that she knew better than a midwife or doctor who has undertaken many years of training, that she would be better able to manage a birth in her front room miles from emergency services, that because she was a health influencer her online community would support her through the birth, that her husband would be able to deal with any emergency adequately.
Her husband and the woman who was paid to be in attendance need to be charged with manslaughter.

I have two children and both myself and baby would have died during both births if I had free birthed. Obviously, I would not have made it to birth number two. Both were complex and involved a lot of medical care. It wasn’t perfect, I still have trauma issues from it years in but we are all here to live to tell the tale.
I think free birthing is neglecting your care of duty to your child. It’s very sad and she should have educated herself on the risks, maybe she did and believed that it would be fine anyway, like a cancer sufferer only taking natural remedies for example.

My second child was an accidental ‘free birth’ too. I had planned a home birth, but my daughter came very quickly and there was no midwife available that night. Luckily, we were both fine.

I don't understand the fear of hospitals.
I say that as someone who the NHS has saved on 3 separate occasions.