Deceased
Roisin Fraser
Demographics
0y, female
Date of death
2009-03-27
Finding date
2012-06-28
Cause of death
Hypoxic episode, probably caused by cord entanglement during delivery
AI-generated summary
A neonate (Roisin) died within 90 minutes of unattended home birth on 27 March 2009. The mother, Janet Fraser, is an advocate for natural birth and rejected all antenatal care despite risk factors including previous caesarean section, family diabetes history, and hypertension. Labor lasted approximately 24 hours. Autopsy and expert testimony indicated death from acute hypoxia caused by nuchal cord entanglement. The baby showed initial signs of life (cord pulsation, pinking) but parents, untrained in neonatal resuscitation, attempted ineffective CPR on inadequate surfaces. Expert obstetricians testified cord entanglement occurs in ~20% of births but is lethal in <1% in hospital settings where continuous fetal monitoring and skilled delivery can detect complications. Without antenatal assessment, cord entanglement went undetected and unmanaged. The mother's ideology-driven rejection of medical care, promoted via her "Joyous Birth" website, created unnecessary fatal risk.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Specialties
Error types
0y · Male·Perinatal hypoxia
Baby R, born at 39 weeks 6 days via planned homebirth with private midwives, died from perinatal hypoxia on day 6 of life. The mother had significant obstetric risk factors: previous emergency caesarean section, macrosom…
0y · Female·Severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy due to brain injury from complicated assi…
Lucy Margaret Campbell died eight days after birth from severe hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy following complicated assisted vaginal birth at Ingham Hospital. Her mother had a low-risk pregnancy complicated by spontaneo…
0y · Female·Unascertained
Baby H was born at home on 21 September 2022 following an unassisted birth (freebirth) without medical oversight. The mother had received no antenatal care despite being unaware of the actual gestational age. The baby sh…
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —