# Inquest hears calls to consider charges against Melbourne birth keeper after mother’s death

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/am-i-dying-mum-to-bes-chilling-question-to-6000-birth-keeper-before-she-died-as-inquest-is-told-homebirth-guru-should-face-a-string-of-charges-over-the-tragedy/
- Published: 2026-10-26T03:10:23+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-26T03:32:28+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16238169/emily-lal-birth-keeper-stacey-warnecke-inquest-perjury.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Art, Culture, Health, Medicine, World

## Key points

- Inquest hears calls to consider charges against a paid birth adviser.
- Stacey Warnecke died after an unassisted home birth.
- A recording was said to contradict the adviser’s earlier evidence.

## Summary

A Melbourne inquest has heard calls for prosecutors to consider charges against Emily Lal, a paid “birth keeper” who supported Stacey Warnecke’s plan for a home birth. Warnecke died in hospital in September 2025 from complications of a postpartum haemorrhage, hours after giving birth at home without medical assistance. The case raises questions about the advice offered to pregnant women by people outside regulated health professions.

A recording played at the inquest captured Warnecke asking Lal whether she might be dying during labour, and showed Lal discussing support for home birth. Counsel assisting the coroner said this contradicted Lal’s earlier evidence that she was only a supportive friend, and urged the coroner to refer her to prosecutors over possible perjury and other offences. Lal was paid $6,000, was granted protection from self-incrimination on condition she testified truthfully, and has refused to return for further questioning; perjury in Victoria carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.