Nathan and Axel Warnecke GoFundMe
By Jerome London
Stacey Hatfield, who goes by the married name Stacey Warnecke, is building a following around natural, low-intervention living with her Natural Spoonfuls brand. He was 30 years old.
On September 29, 2025, she gave birth to her first child, a son named Axel, at her home in Seaford, a suburb of Melbourne in the south-east. The birth was an unscheduled spontaneous delivery, meaning no registered midwife or doctor was present. A free birth is different from a midwife birth: there is no trained medical professional in the room. Hatfield had no traditional prenatal care and, according to inquest testimony, was afraid of medical intervention, induction, or a C-section, and chose a free birth to be fully independent.
The labor began around September 26. Her birth assistant, a doula named Emily Lal, was called to the Seaford home on September 28, and Axel was born on the morning of September 29. Hatfield successfully delivered him and was able to hold and rescue him. Soon after, he started bleeding profusely, eventually losing about 1.5 liters of blood, and had trouble breathing. He was found on the ground awake, writhing and gasping, next to a large blood clot.
When her husband Nathan announced her death in October 2025, she wrote: “It is with a heavy heart that I share with you the unexpected passing of my beautiful wife, my spouse and best friend. and they did everything they could to help, but in the end nothing could be done despite their best efforts.”
Postpartum hemorrhage is a known risk factor for childbirth and, expert evidence in the review noted, it is usually treated with immediate hospital care. At Frankston Hospital, staff worked through multiple cardiac arrests, performing a hysterectomy and heart surgery at the same time while trying to control the bleeding. They finished the blood that was there. The pathologist gave the cause of death as hemorrhage leading to heart failure. He died about 8 hours after Axel was born. Hospital staff treating him since then have reported flashbacks, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and guilt, with some considering quitting the job.
In mid-June 2026, the Coroners Court of Victoria, before Coroner Therese McCarthy, held hearings examining the circumstances of his death. McCarthy described Hatfield as “vibrant, intelligent and thoughtful.”
Lal, who did not have a medical degree, testified that she was paid about $6,000 for free birth care that included preparation and attendance, and described her role as a “supportive friend” rather than someone there to make the birth safe. Her training, the court heard, came from her own four home births and online courses, including material from the Free Birth Society.
In a roughly five-minute window as Hatfield’s condition worsened, Lal asked three times if he should call an ambulance. Hatfield refused the first two, at one point telling Lal “I don’t want you to leave me,” and accepted the third, at which point Nathan called 000. A recording of Triple Zero’s call lasting approximately 12 minutes was played in court. In it, Lal reportedly downplayed the bleeding, at one point said it had stopped and suggested Hatfield may have been nervous, and did not fully disclose his role as a paid birth attendant. Lal said: “His independence was very important to him.
After Hatfield was taken to the hospital, Lal returned to the house and cleaned up the bloody towels and carpet, saying he wanted to save Nathan from the scene. He initially refused to give a statement to the police and sought legal advice first. He stopped practicing immediately after Hatfield’s death and has been suspended by the health complaints commissioner from providing or advertising certain health services while the investigation is ongoing. He told the court that he is still upset about what happened.
Studies on planned births, which go to home midwives for low-risk pregnancies in integrated programs generally show comparable birth outcomes and lower intervention rates than hospital births. Free births without a trained professional present remain without that evidence base, and serious complications such as postpartum hemorrhage depend on quick access to advanced care, which is part of what the Victorian inquiry is examining in this case.
The investigation also examines the broader questions the case raises: the dangers of unregulated birth control, the sources women turn to when they don’t trust the medical system, and whether systemic changes are needed. It has not released final results as of mid-June 2026.
If you’d like to support Nathan and Axel, a GoFundMe has been set up in their name.
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