Newborn dies after using home-birthing pool promoted by Instagram influencer

A newborn baby died after her mother delivered her using a home-birthing pool hired from “freebirth” Instagram influencer Emily Lal, a coroner has found.

The findings made in the Coroners Court of Victoria say it is “unlikely” the baby girl would have died had she been born in a hospital setting, or if the home birth had occurred with appropriate midwife support.

The mother, referred to as Ms. E, gave birth to her child in December 2022.

Prior to the birth, Ms. E contacted Lal – who operates as The Authentic Birthkeeper on Instagram – to rent a birthing pool to help deliver her baby.

“We aren’t sure if she’s breathing”

The Melbourne-based influencer described herself as being “disillusioned with the medical system”, and held the “philosophy” that registered midwives were “complicit in, and contributing to, the harm of women”.

The coronial inquest found Ms. E contacted the influencer to hire a birthing pool.

According to the findings, Ms. E said she kept in contact with Lal “socially” but did not seek any service or advice from the influencer.

However, Ms. E said she requested to keep in contact with the influencer after the birth to “conduct a post-partum visit”.

Half an hour after Ms. E gave birth to her child, she sent a message to Lal saying “I did it”.

She was unable to deliver the placenta until the next morning.

The morning following the birth, Ms. E realized something was wrong with her baby.

Ms. E sent a message to Lal at about 8am saying, “We can’t wake her, we aren’t sure if she’s breathing,” with a picture of the baby, whose face had turned blue.

Lal didn’t see the message for 25 minutes, according to the inquest findings.

“She was a healthy baby”

Upon seeing the message, Lal made a Facetime call and saw the baby girl. Believing her to be dead, she told Ms. E and Mr. E to call for an ambulance.

Paramedics noted the baby’s heartbeat was flatlining and attempted CPR for 30 minutes, but were unable to revive her.

Ms. E was transported to the Mercy Women’s Hospital for treatment.

Forensic pathologist Yeliena Baber said had Ms. E given birth in the hospital, preventive measures would have been put in place.

Dr. Baber concluded: “If Baby E was born in hospital and Ms. E had received appropriate antenatal care, it is highly unlikely that Baby E would have died, as she was a healthy baby and her death was caused by the prolonged delivery in a home birthing pool”.

She further noted if a trained midwife had been present during the homebirth and prolonged labor, it would be expected they would escalate care to a hospital if “it was clear that the baby was in distress”. 

Coroner Catherine Fitzgerald found Baby E’s death was preventable.

In her findings, she said the baby’s death was “unlikely to have occurred if the birth occurred in a hospital setting” and may have been avoided if the “birth was a planned homebirth with appropriate midwife support”.

“A homebirth is distinguished from a ‘freebirth’, which is when someone chooses to birth their baby without medical or midwifery assistance,” she said.

“The publicly available information regarding water birth … are not directed at women intending to birth at home with no medical assistance or antenatal medical management.”

“The single consultation with (Ms. E’s GP) late in the pregnancy provided no real opportunity for education to be given regarding birth options.”

Fitzgerald did not make any adverse findings against the baby’s parents or Lal.