Death after home birth: Process against midwife Wana causes a stir!

Death after home birth: Process against midwife Wana causes a stir!

In September 2023 there was a tragic incident in Vienna: a baby that was born shortly after a planned home birth under the direction of midwife Margarete Wana died a little later in the hospital. This shattering story now has a judicial aftermath, since the midwife's public prosecutor accuses gross negligence. The court granted this indictment and decided in the first instance that Wana violated the midwife law by not performing the home birth professionally and according to the necessary guidelines, as the Austrian midwife committee illustrates in a statement. The verdict is temporarily because Wana still took a time concern to decide whether she wants to appeal, like OTS reported.

At the birth of the first child of the mother, who had now released, a caesarean section was necessary, and there were complications that were apparently not sufficiently taken into account during the second birth. The tragic dead end of the home birth led to a lack of oxygen in the newborn, which ultimately led to the fatal outcome. An expert found in the trial that the midwife should have acted much earlier at the time of birth arrest in order to be relocated to the hospital. The little Charlotte, who could still live in the circumstances, would be almost one and a half years old. When the judge's decision was announced, the dead child's mother broke out in tears, while many colleagues from the midwife Wana were present in the courtroom to support them. The court sentenced Wana to 15 months of imprisonment with a three -year trial period, a judgment that is not yet final, as the Kronen Zeitung reported.

This case throws a bright light on the responsibility of midwives in home births, especially if there are health risks as in this case. The president of the Austrian midwife committee, Gerlinde Feichtlbauer, expresses regret about such tragic incidents and emphasizes the need to maintain trust between midwives and expectant mothers. The decision for a home birth requires a thorough medical analysis and should only be made with strict consideration of the midwife law.