The Free Birth Movement: Guardian and New York Times Investigations Reveal Dangers
Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne, The Guardian, November 22, 2025 and December 3, 2025; Jessica Grose, The New York Times, December 3, 2025
Click here for the Guardian's main investigation
Click here for the Guardian's Irish case report
Click here for the NYT opinion
A year-long Guardian investigation reveals the Free Birth Society (FBS), founded by former doula Emilee Saldaya, has been linked to baby deaths worldwide after radicalizing mothers through content promoting births without medical assistance.
Meanwhile, influencers on social media earned millions in promoting 'free birth' practices. The FBS podcast has been downloaded over 5 million times and forensic analysis suggests it generated over $13 million since 2018.FBS promotes extreme practices including anti-ultrasound positions, "wild pregnancy" without prenatal care, and "radical responsibility" where mothers assume complete responsibility for all outcomes including death.
Investigators documented 18 mothers who suffered late-term stillbirths, neonatal deaths or serious harm after FBS influence, plus 30 additional cases across multiple countries. Saldaya and co-founder Yolande Norris-Clark taught that resuscitation was often unnecessary, with Saldaya stating "I would never resuscitate a baby."
They charged $6,000-$12,000 for online "midwifery schools" training over 850 women in three months via Zoom with no life-saving skills. New York Times writer Jessica Grose connects this to the broader "medical freedom movement" and RFK Jr.'s agenda, tracing anti-establishment medical philosophy to 19th century figures whose remedies ultimately proved fatal. Saldaya herself experienced a stillbirth at 41 weeks in August 2025, the third full-term death among 15 students in her first cohort.
Quotes:
"Nobody joins a cult willingly. You think you're joining a great movement."
"Going it totally alone does not mean being free — it just means being farther from help."
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