Perhaps you want a homebirth enough to be willing to risk your baby’s life. But have you considered the potential impact on your older children and the baby of leaving them motherless? Neither did the mothers of these 25 children who experienced the ultimate catastrophe, all because their mothers wanted a specific birth experience.
– Florida woman Stephanie left 6 small children motherless, including her newborn, after choosing homebirth.
– Australian woman Caroline Lovell left 2 small children, including her newborn, motherless after bleeding to death in front of her clueless homebirth midwives.
– A young American woman left 4 small children motherless, including newborn twins after bleeding to death at homebirth.
– A 24 year old American woman left her newborn motherless after bleeding to death at homebirth.
– British mother Joanne Whale left her newborn motherless after bleeding to death from a uterine eversion at homebirth. Her midwife did not know how to start an IV that might have saved her life.
– British woman Claire Teague left two children motherless, including her newborn, after bleeding to death from a retained placenta at homebirth. Her midwife claimed in her defense that Claire “had a really lovely spontaneous birth at home and I hope Simon [her husband] in time will remember that.”
– Maria Zain, a prominent Malaysian-British advocate for unassisted homebirth, left 6 children motherless, including her newborn, after her 4th unassisted homebirth!
Now comes word of Australian yoga teacher Lauren Verona’s death a homebirth, leaving 3 motherless daughters.
On her Facebook page Ms. Verona had discussed her “countless pregnancy complications” including a low lying placenta and gestational diabetes; she didn’t even mention additional risk factors including postdates pregnancy and advanced maternal age.
On June 5 she wrote on her Facebook page:
… I hear my own children say “divine timing” when anyone asks when the baby is coming out. I love that they get it. I love that our children reinforce our own belief systems when we quietly question it, I love that it rolls off the tongue and the statement just stands. So here we are 41 weeks pregnant trusting the higher plan.
Now she is dead.
We are devastated, on behalf of Ryan, Allira, Evie and their families, to let you know that our beloved, inspiring, shining light Lauren passed away due to complications after giving birth to her beautiful, healthy, thriving baby girl – Lucinda …
In this time of darkness, we still have a shining light, not only in Lucinda, but also those who she leaves behind, especially Ryan and her daughters. May they and we all continue to share her light, her wisdom, her laughter, her tears for lifetimes to come.
No doubt her memory will provide inspiration and comfort for her daughters for years to come. But she could have provided a lot more to her daughters had she survived. They will feel the devastating pain of her loss for the rest of their lives.
So I ask: which was ultimately more important, her birth experience or their need for their mother?
Thinking about homebirth? Consider what your death would do to your children and think again.
