Homebirth deaths: Stacey Warnecke died in tragic circumstances. We need to stop this happening to others

National

Pregnancy

Opinion

Vinay Rane Obstetrician and gynaecologist October 29, 2025 — 7.00pm

The recent and profoundly distressing death of Melbourne nutritionist Stacey Warnecke, who died after giving birth at home without medical assistance, has shaken the medical profession in a way that words can barely capture.

For those of us who have devoted our lives to making childbirth safe, compassionate and dignified, it has forced a reckoning with uncomfortable truths about trust, influence and the erosion of common sense in an age when everyone has a platform yet few have responsibility.

I have worked in places where women in labour have walked for miles beneath a pitiless sun, crossing rivers or scrubland to reach a concrete clinic no larger than a living room. There, they li