Key facts
- Birthkeeper Emily Lal may face criminal charges for allegedly "grooming" clients to fear hospitals.
- Stacey Warnecke died in September 2025 after a home birth attended by Lal, suffering a postpartum hemorrhage.
- Phone evidence suggests Lal provided advice, referrals, and sold supplements, contradicting her claims of being just a supportive friend.
- Lal allegedly told Warnecke she should be scared of hospitals and that midwives sometimes sabotage home births.
- Warnecke's husband was allegedly indoctrinated into a passive support role.
- Counsel assisting the coroner suggested Lal committed perjury and recommended referral to the Office of Public Prosecutions.
A birthkeeper, Emily Lal, is facing potential criminal charges for allegedly "grooming" pregnant women to fear hospital care, a Victorian coroner's inquest heard on Monday. Stacey Warnecke died in September 2025 at Frankston hospital after a home birth supported by Lal, who charged $6,000. Phone evidence presented to the inquest suggested Lal's role was more structured than that of a supportive friend, involving advice, referrals, and sales of supplements, which contradicted her previous testimony. Counsel assisting the coroner, Rachel Ellyard, stated that Lal's evidence may have been untruthful, recommending a referral to the Office of Public Prosecutions for perjury. Ellyard argued that Warnecke likely would have survived if she had been in a hospital or had a registered midwife present for her home birth.