A newborn baby died after a home birth went tragically wrong, as their dad desperately tried to revive the infant.
The baby girl was born at 3am on Saturday, but became stuck during labour and wasn't breathing.
The only people present at the birth were the father and a doula.
A doula is a trained companion who is not a healthcare professional and who supports another person through a significant health-related experience, such as childbirth, miscarriage, induced abortion or stillbirth.
When it was clear that something was wrong, the dad began CPR because the doula didn't know how to resuscitate the newborn baby, WAtoday reports.
The child was born in Perth, western Australia, with paramedics rushing to the scene 10 minutes after receiving a worried call-out.
The baby was rushed to St John of God Midland before being transferred to Perth Children's Hospital but sadly couldn't be saved.
A Department of Health spokesman told WAtoday that it was against the law for a doula to provide any clinical care during labour or birth.
Breaches of this could result in a $30,000 fine.
Australian College of Midwives' principal midwifery officer, Kellie Wilton, said that it's important to have trained medical professionals for home births.
“As you can see in these tragic circumstances there’s no trained health professional there to be able to recognise when there’s a deviation from the norm, there was no one there to identify the emergency situation early,” she said.
“If a woman is birthing at home, it’s important to have a trained professional who is an expert in emergencies and has the ability to resuscitate.”
Police confirmed the baby's death was being treated as non-suspicious and that a report would be prepared for the coroner.
Under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (WA) Act, a person must not undertake the care of a woman during labour unless they are a trained doctor or midwife, the MailOnline reports.
The number of West Australian women opting for a home birth rose by 62.6 per cent during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the state recording 304 home births in 2020.
The Mirror has contacted Australia's Department of Health for comment.
