Newborn Baby Allegedly Died After Mom Followed Influencer’s Freebirthing Advice

TRIGGER WARNING: This post contains information about stillbirth and infant loss, which may be triggering to some.

Every mother’s pregnancy and birth plan is different, and we must respect those choices. Although many women give birth at hospitals and medical centers, others feel more comfortable with a home birth. Regardless of where a woman delivers her baby, unforeseen complications can arise for both the mother and the child. As a result, many individuals opt for births supervised by medical professionals in the event of a worst-case scenario.

Australian social media influencer Emily Lal, who posts as @the_authentic_birthkeeper, recently came under fire after a woman’s newborn allegedly died following her “freebirth” methodology.

According to a report from the Coroners Court of Victoria obtained by the New York Post, the baby likely would have survived if she were born in a hospital or under the care of a midwife. The report identified the mother as Ms. E and claimed she gave birth in December 2022. Ms. E reportedly contacted Lal prior to giving birth and rented a birthing pool to deliver her baby at home. The coroner’s report found the women kept in touch “socially,” but Ms. E did not get advice from Lal about the birth. She did, however, request to keep in touch to “conduct a post-partum visit.”

Ms. E contacted Lal an hour after birth, texting “I did it.” She did not deliver her placenta until the next morning and sent a message that read, “We can’t wake her, we aren’t sure if she’s breathing,” with a picture of the baby, whose face had turned blue,” the Post reported. Lal apparently didn’t see the message for 25 minutes. She contacted Ms. E via FaceTime and told her and Mr. E to call 911 for help. Paramedics could not revive the baby, and she died. Emergency responders took Ms. E to a hospital for treatment.

Forensic pathologist Yeliena Babe claimed Ms E. would have received preventative measures had she gone to a hospital to give birth.

“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,” Babe noted.

Coroner Catherine Fitzgerald noted medical intervention could have saved the baby’s life.

“A homebirth is distinguished from a ‘freebirth’, which is when someone chooses to birth their baby without medical or midwifery assistance,” Fitzgerald reported, per the Post.

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

Lal recently took to social media to clap back at the coroner’s report and conventional birth practices.

“I can’t help but feel that the entire coronial process has been used as a stick to punish the mother involved in the death that is being reported in the media and anyone associated with her. Saying the death would have been preventable had the baby [been] born in hospital is laughable considering the harm the hospital does to babies, as shown in these two examples,” she wrote on Instagram.

“Did those reports highlight that those deaths might have been prevented if those mothers birthed outside the system?” Lal continued in her post. “To all the keyboard warriors that have been coming at me the last 24 hours, Stop pretending that you are in the least bit concerned about the mother at the centre of this and try to remember that no one loved that baby more than she and no one cared that baby more than she.”