A Melbourne wellness influencer was discovered in a critical condition on her home floor, suffering from shortness of breath and clamminess, hours before her death following a home birth. Stacey Warnecke, aged 30, passed away in September from a treatable complication after delivering her son, Axel, without the presence of any trained medical personnel, an inquest into her death has been told.
During the birth, Warnecke was attended by her husband, Nathan Warnecke, and Emily Lal, a 'birthkeeper' whom she had connected with online. A birthkeeper is an unregulated individual offering birth support, operating entirely outside conventional medical systems and lacking formal medical training. This contrasts with doulas, who, while also without formal medical training, typically support women within the hospital system alongside qualified medical professionals.
Approximately 25 minutes after Axel's birth, Warnecke delivered the placenta. Her husband estimated she lost up to 1.5 litres of blood at this point. Subsequently, Warnecke began to experience shortness of breath, but initially declined calls for an ambulance on two separate occasions. Ms Lal reportedly suggested she might be having a panic attack, according to evidence presented to the coroner.
About an hour post-birth, Warnecke was asked for a third time if she wished for an ambulance, to which she agreed. A triple-zero call was made at 4:13 AM. A paramedic arrived within ten minutes, quickly requesting backup from a mobile intensive care unit after finding Warnecke on the floor between a birth pool and a couch. Counsel assisting the coroner, Rachel Ellyard, described the scene: "The room was dark. Stacey was naked, her skin was yellow and clammy." Warnecke was also breathing rapidly, appeared to be in an altered state of consciousness, and a large blood clot was observed on the floor.
Upon the arrival of intensive care paramedics at 4:36 AM, Warnecke's blood pressure was undetectable. They worked to stabilise her, recognising a massive postpartum haemorrhage, to enable transport to Frankston Hospital for emergency treatment. She arrived at the hospital around 5:13 AM, where she experienced a "big gush of blood" during transfer to a bed. By 5:15 AM, she was in cardiac arrest. Hospital staff made "heroic" efforts to manage multiple cardiac arrests and ongoing bleeding, which necessitated surgery, including a hysterectomy and a procedure to drain fluid from her heart. The coroner heard that stabilising Warnecke for surgery was challenging, requiring the hospital's entire blood supply, with additional supplies called in.
During Warnecke's treatment, Ms Lal provided details of the birth to hospital staff, leading to suspicions that her role was more significant than just that of a friend, as she had initially claimed. Ms Ellyard informed the coroner that "money changed hands" when Ms Lal became Warnecke's birthkeeper. Following surgery, Warnecke suffered another cardiac arrest and died shortly after 11 AM. Ms Lal reportedly left the hospital to return to the house to clean up, with Ms Ellyard noting it was unclear if any consideration was given to preserving the scene for a potential investigation into Warnecke's death. A clinician at Frankston Hospital stated that the only women she had treated who died from obstetric haemorrhage "were in the third world." Ms Lal is expected to give evidence to the coroner, provided she is granted protection from self-incrimination, having not yet provided a statement to the court.