Inquest into Melbourne influencer’s death following freebirth halted after new phone evidence discovered | Health
The closing presentation of the inquest into the death of a woman who gave birth at home without the support of medically trained healthcare professionals has been postponed after new evidence emerged following forensic examination of her mobile phone.
Nutritionist Stacey Warnecke, 30, died at Melbourne’s Frankston hospital on September 29.
Wellness influencer Warnecke had paid her doula, Emily Lal, $6,000 to assist her in giving birth at home, sometimes called a “free birth,” without any medically trained staff involved.
Birth protectors have no medical training and work outside the medical system.
The court heard Warnecke suffered a major postpartum haemorrhage after delivering the placenta and an ambulance was called about half an hour after the haemorrhage was first noticed. Warnecke told Lal and her husband, Nathan, that she was short of breath and had to lie down after bleeding.
In her evidence on Tuesday, Lal told the inquest that although she was paid to support Lal, her role was primarily to be a supportive friend, that she had no clinical training and that it was not her responsibility to make Warneck’s birth safer or call an ambulance unless specifically requested.
She said she never gave Warnecke medical advice and only shared her experiences of freely giving birth to her own children.
Lal also told the inquest that Warnecke no longer had access to the messages warning her that she would go into labor on September 26, or any subsequent messages thereafter.
“I got a new phone and lost everything,” Lal told the court. Rachel Ellyard, the solicitor assisting the coroner, asked Lal when he lost his phone and Lal replied: “October or November, I can’t remember.”
Lal added that she mostly texted Warnecke’s husband, Nathan, before heading to their home to support the birth.
Lal testified on the condition that the coroner provide protection against his answers being used against him in future civil or criminal proceedings.
The investigation was expected to be completed on Friday.
On Thursday afternoon, Ellyard told the coroner that the contents of a forensic analysis of Warnecke’s phone had been presented to the court.
“It seems to me that the contents presented raise issues that will require further investigation and perhaps the gathering of more evidence,” Ellyard said.
For this reason, the court has been postponed to a date yet to be determined.
Addressing Warnecke’s family members who listened to the inquest online, coroner Therese McCarthy said, “sometimes investigations … take a different path because we have new information.”
“I am of the view that this material is so important that the court should defer making any findings and hearing submissions until it has had the opportunity to conduct a proper analysis of this material and potentially order further evidence.”
Earlier Thursday, expert medical witnesses included obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Mark Tarrant and midwife Dr. Catherine Adams testified that they believed Warneck’s condition was treatable if a midwife was present for a home birth or if Warnecke gave birth in a hospital.
Postpartum hemorrhage is so common that it’s always a possibility in midwives’ minds, Adams said, that they’re always assessing factors that could increase that risk during pregnancy and birth so they’re prepared to intervene quickly. He said rapid intervention made the condition treatable.
He said the midwife would have treatments available in case of such a complication. “We realize once it gets going it can be quite disastrous,” he said.
Adams said he believed that half an hour after the bleeding occurred and no treatment was administered, the medical staff treating Warnecke “lost the opportunity to control the situation.”
