Wellness influencer Stacey Hatfield’s cause of death has been revealed.
It’s suspected Hatfield died from complications following a postpartum haemorrhage, attorney Rachel Ellyard told 9News.
The outlet reported that Hatfield was with her husband, Nathan Warnecke, and unregulated doula Emily Lal when she gave birth to her son in their Melbourne, Australia, home on September 29. While their son was healthy, Hatfield’s condition declined rapidly and an ambulance was called.
Ellyard explained that paramedics arrived on scene and found Hatfield “looking yellow and struggling to breathe” as she sat on the floor near the birthing pool.
Hatfield was rushed to Frankston Hospital. She went to undergo various procedures, including an emergency hysterectomy, the Herald Sun reported, per People.
According to the outlet, Hatfield suffered multiple cardiac arrests and died in the ICU. 9News reported that Victorian Coroners Court was told the hospital’s supply of her blood type was exhausted when the doctors attempted to save Hatfield.
When Hatfield’s death was reported to police, Nathan provided a statement to detectives but Lal refused. When officers went to examine the family’s home the next day, the house had allegedly been cleaned by Lal. Ellyard shared that Hatfield’s interactions with Lal will be part of the coroner’s investigation into her death.
The Victorian Coroners Court was told Hatfield was a qualified nutritionist, who spoke about her healthy lifestyle to her more than 28,000 Instagram followers via her Natural Spoonfuls account. Ellyard claimed the influencer was affected by the COVID-19 mandates, which influenced her decisions surrounding her pregnancy — where she chose not to receive any health care — and birth.
Ellyard wanted to give birth at home and contacted Lal, who is known as “The Authentic Birthkeeper” on social media.
Victoria’s Health Complaints Commissioner shared back in October that it was investigating Lal “based on information received by the Health Complaints Commissioner alleging that Ms Lal is facilitating and/or participating in homebirths which may put both mothers and babies at risk,” per a post on the HCC website.
Herald Sun reported that Lal has been temporarily banned from providing healthcare.
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“My role is to look at how she died and establish a finding around those facts,” Coroner Therese McCarthy said, according to the ABC. McCarthy noted that she was considering whether to hold an official hearing into the influencer’s death. The case is returning to the coroner’s court in March.
Warnecke announced in October that Hatfield died after giving birth to the pair’s son.
“Tragically, shortly after, an unforeseen and extremely rare complication arose and she passed after being transferred to hospital,” he wrote in an Instagram tribute at the time. “Hospital staff were amazing and did the utmost to help, but ultimately nothing could be done despite their best efforts.”
