Popular food influencer Stacey Hatfield died from blood loss after allegedly refusing ambulance twice during home birth

Stacey Hatfield, a popular food influencer from Australia, passed away shortly after giving birth to her son Axel last year. Now an inquest into the cause of her death has found that she died from blood loss after allegedly refusing medical assistance twice.

Hatfield, 30, was a wellness content creator who shared healthy food recipes with her thousands of followers across social media. She passed away on September 29, 2025, shortly after giving birth to her son. “Its with heavy heart that i share with you the unexpected passing of my beautiful wife, soul mate and best friend,” her husband wrote in a tribute on Hatfield’s Instagram page.

Her husband, Nathan Warnecke, stated that an “unforeseen and extremely rare complication” led to her death during their home birth. She was later transported to hospital but sadly nothing could be done and she passed away despite the best efforts of doctors and nurses. 

Stacey Hatfield’s alleged cause of death

According to TMZ, a coroner’s court inquest found that Hatfield had allegedly refused an ambulance twice during the birth. Hatfield reportedly bled out while delivering her baby without a nurse or midwife present.

The court was told how Hatfield had been adamant that there be no medical intervention during or after the birth. Her wishes were honored by her husband and birth support worker. As previously mentioned, she was eventually rushed to hospital but ultimately passed away due to post-partum hemorrhaging.

Followers of Hatfield offered their condolences in the comments underneath her husband’s Instagram tribute. “I’m so so sorry for your loss.” wrote one commenter, adding, “My daughter, also born in 95 is planning on a home-birth in March and I’m so worried.”

Home births are becoming a more common and accepted option for expectant mothers but the choice to do a home birth does come with its own set of risks that not all parents are made fully aware of. The benefit of a home birth is that the mother gets to deliver her child in a comfortable and familiar environment which many prefer to a hospital. 

According to an article from The Guardian, 1 in 50 births in the U.K. are done at home. However, it should only be done for low risk pregnancies. High risk pregnancies are safer to do in a hospital where medical equipment and staff are on hand in case anything goes wrong.

It’s unclear whether Stacey Hatfield and her husband were fully aware of the risks involved with their home birth. Even for low risk pregnancies it’s important to discuss hospital transfer plans in advance in order to minimise the risk of such a tragedy occurring.