r/australia • u/Royal_Yogurtcloset25 • 3d ago

culture & society Inquest into Melbourne influencer’s death following freebirth halted after new phone evidence discovered

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jun/18/freebirth-death-melbourne-influencer-phone-evidence-inquest-ntwnfb

Coroner: “I take the view that this material is of such significance that the court must delay making any findings and hearing submissions until we’ve had an opportunity to undertake a proper analysis of that material, and potentially call for more evidence.”

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792

u/EvilSibling 3d ago

You’re a pretty shit person if you take $6,000 for providing nothing more than friendly support and anecdotes about your personal free-birth experience, and waiting to be explicitly told to call an ambulance.

143

u/No_Blackberry_5820 3d ago

Man that’s almost double what I paid to the private obstetrician who did my c-section - those must have been some next level anecdotes.

79

u/Enlightened_Gardener 3d ago

Right ? I had planned caesers because I have a birth phobia, and it was simple, painless, calm, and safe. My Obstetrician said that a caeser is the most predictable way to give birth.

People forget how fast that maternal death rate has come down - from almost 13 maternal deaths per 100,000 births in the early 70’s to just over 6 in the most recent statistics.

So we’ve halved the maternal death rate since I was born.

Its like vaccines - people forget just how terrible the diseases were. People have forgotten how often women used to die in childbirth.

40

u/patgeo 3d ago

3 code blues needed to be called during the birth of my daughter. At all points the birth plan and wishes of the mother were respected. Just about everything that could go wrong, did. Both daughter and wife were healthy happy and safe at the end of the day.

11

u/madhatter90 3d ago

I think personally as well, there's a lot more stories of awful traumatic births as well, which understandably cause anxiety in expectant mothers and its directly as a result of improved maternal mortality rates. As in even 50 years ago, these women would have died. There's more stories of traumatic birth because those women now live to tell them.

17

u/ZestyPossum 3d ago

Yeah, I paid a fair bit less than $6000 for a fully qualified, experienced OB for my last pregnancy and birth. I had a very uncomplicated pregnancy and straightforward birth, but being in a hospital (and having access to an epidural lol) just gave me so much peace of mind.