Five key findings from our investigation into the Free Birth Society

The Free Birth Society (FBS) is a business run from North Carolina that promotes the idea of women giving birth without midwives or doctors present. It is led by Emilee Saldaya and Yolande Norris-Clark, ex-doulas turned social media influencers who have gained a global following through the FBS podcast, which has been downloaded millions of times. FBS profits from sales of its instructional video guide to freebirthing, and access to a paid-for membership group for pregnant women. It runs two online schools that train “radical birth keepers” and “authentic midwives” to support women when they are giving birth. In a year-long investigation, we reviewed hundreds of hours of FBS podcasts, videos, documents and course materials, interviewed 10 former insiders, and analysed thousands of pages of journal entries, medical notes, message threads and legal documents relating to births by its followers. We also interviewed more than 60 mothers influenced by FBS, studied video footage of unassisted births and consulted some of the world’s leading obstetricians and experts in midwifery. Here are five things we learned. Many FBS claims conflict with evidence-based medical advice For a healthy mother in a low-risk pregnancy, experts say the risk of freebirthing is generally low, although most would not recommend it. “Across whole populations, going through labour and birth without professional support is associated with higher levels of risk for mother and baby,” said Prof Soo Downe, a senior British midwife at the University of Lancaster. Downe was one of four medical experts who reviewed FBS material for the Guardian. All agreed the information FBS provided pregnant women included content that was medically illiterate, misleading or dangerous. Examples include the false claim that there is “zero” risk of infection when cutting an umbilical cord, incorrect guidance on how to resolve a rare but potentially fatal condition called shoulder dystocia, and advocacy of a passive approach to newborn resuscitation that posed a high risk to babies of long-term neurological damage or death. FBS is linked to real-world harm all around the world We identified 48 cases of late-term stillbirths or neonatal deaths or other forms of serious harm involving mothers or birth attendants who appear to be linked to FBS, for example having enrolled in its courses or appeared on its podcasts. Most of the cases of harm relate to mothers in the US and Canada, but they include births in Switzerland, France, South Africa, Thailand, India, Australia, the UK and Israel. When free births go wrong, it is impossible to say whether the outcome would have been different with medical support. But in 18 of the cases, all of which involved in-depth interviews with the mothers, we found evidence suggesting FBS played a significant role in the mother or birth attendant’s decision-making, leading to potentially avoidable tragedies. They include the case of Gabrielle Lopez, a first-time mother from Pennsylvania. Her son Esau got stuck during his birth in 2022 and sustained a brain injury caused by oxygen deprivation. He is now severely disabled. Saldaya, the chief executive of FBS, directly advises women during birth At times, Saldaya has given direct advice to women during their labours via phone calls or messages. This occurred in the case of Lorren Holliday, who became the first known FBS-linked mother to lose a baby, in 2018. Saldaya has denied advising Holliday, telling students: “I didn’t know this woman at all.” However, the Guardian has reviewed more than 100 messages between Saldaya and Holliday during her five days of active labour in her home in the California desert. Despite numerous signs that Holliday was in a medical emergency, Saldaya encouraged her to keep going, before eventually providing her with a script to deceive hospital staff about the details of her labour. Her daughter, Journey Moon, was stillborn. In 2024, Saldaya also advised Haley Bordeaux, a mother from Virginia, via phone calls and texts to a friend; she had a healthy baby but had several strokes caused by severe pre-eclampsia that made her temporarily blind. FBS profits from growing distrust in maternity services Women are attracted to FBS for understandable reasons. Scandals in maternity care, and a concern among some about an overly medicalised approach to birth and, in some cases, negligence and obstetric violence, have created a ready market for FBS. Saldaya and Norris-Clark exploit these concerns, accusing doctors and “medwives” of “sabotaging” women’s births, sexually assaulting and “fingering” mothers, and even committing “murder”. Even some advocates of free birth argue that the pair promote an unusually dogmatic version. But they are also adept businesswomen, good at monetising their ideology. FBS is estimated to have generated more than $13m (£9.9m) in revenues since 2018. Nearly 1,000 students have graduated from the Radical Birth Keeper school, which charged $6,000 for a three-month Zoom course for “authentic midwives”, and the MatriBirth Midwifery Institute (MMI), a $12,000, year-long “gold-standard online intensive midwifery school”. The leaders of FBS seem undeterred by mounting criticism Saldaya and Norris-Clark did not respond to requests for comment. There are some signs they may be adapting their approach. In a call with students this year, Saldaya suggested FBS may have gone too far in calling their MMI a “midwifery” school (it has since been renamed the MatriBirth Mentor Institute). In May 2025, FBS posted a disclaimer on Instagram, saying its content was for “educational and informational” purposes and was not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any medical condition related to pregnancy or birth. However, Saldaya and Norris-Clark are also pushing back at criticism about their business and the risk it poses to mothers and babies. Norris-Clark recently called critics “pathetic losers”, defending FBS as “the most ethical kind of business you can run”. After publication of the Guardian’s investigation, Saldaya posted a statement on Instagram criticising “propaganda on mainstream news”. “This is what it means to be a disruptor,” she said. “They will try to discredit you. They will lie about you. They will attempt to silence what they don’t understand.” • The Birth Keepers, a multipart Guardian podcast series investigating the Free Birth Society, is released in December. (Subscribe now to The Guardian Investigates feed.)