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

Coroner tells inquiry new material ‘of such significance’ any findings must be postponed so information can be analysed Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The closing submissions in an inquest into the death of a woman who gave birth at home with no support from medically trained health workers has been delayed, after new evidence came to light after a forensic analysis of her mobile phone. Stacey Warnecke, a 30 year-old nutritionist, died on 29 September in Frankston hospital in Melbourne. Warnecke, a wellness influencer, had paid birthkeeper Emily Lal $6,000 to support her to give birth at home without any medically trained staff involved, in what is sometimes called a “freebirth”. Birthkeepers have no medical training and operate outside of the medical system. The court heard Warnecke suffered a massive postpartum haemorrhage after she delivered the placenta, with an ambulance called approximately half an hour after the bleed was first noticed. Warnecke told Lal and her husband, Nathan, that she was short of breath and needed to lie down after the bleed. In her evidence on Tuesday, Lal told t