Wellness influencer Stacey Hatfield dies from postpartum complications
Australian nutritionist and wellness influencer Stacey Hatfield died on September 29 from complications following the home birth of her first child, her husband announced Sunday. She was 30.
Hatfield, the founder of wellness brand Natural Spoonfuls and advocate for toxin-free living to over 20,000 social media followers, delivered her son Axel at home before experiencing an “unforeseen and extremely rare complication,” according to her husband, Nathan Warnecke. She was transferred to a hospital, where medical staff worked to save her, but she did not survive. Warnecke shared on Instagram, “It's with a heavy heart that I share the unexpected passing of my beautiful wife, soulmate, and best friend. Hospital staff were amazing and did the utmost to help, but ultimately nothing could be done despite their best efforts.”
Warnecke said Hatfield had held and nursed their newborn, expressing her love for him before the medical emergency occurred. “If there's one thing I can try and reconcile in this horrible time, it is that her last moments on earth were the happiest I've ever seen her,” he wrote.
Hatfield launched Natural Spoonfuls in 2019, promoting whole foods and chemical-free products as part of her “low-tox living” philosophy, and later co-founded Waffl, a social media content agency for food creators. The Melbourne-based influencer began advocating for natural wellness after dealing with digestive issues, skin problems, and low energy.
Becoming a mother had been her greatest dream, Warnecke said, adding that she had spent the last nine months telling their son she loved him daily. The couple, together for nine years and married for nearly one, had been planning to buy a home and raise a family.
An online fundraising campaign organized by the baby’s uncle has raised over $44,000 AUD to support Warnecke as he cares for Axel while grieving. “Now, Nathan has a newborn baby and is left to navigate life as a single father,” the fundraiser reads.
According to Australia’s Bureau of Statistics, approximately 0.7% of births in the country in 2023 were planned home births, totaling roughly 2,081 deliveries.
Warnecke remembered Hatfield as someone “most at home in nature, surrounded by trees and sand at her feet,” with little interest in material possessions. “She was my lighthouse in the storm and the world is less bright without her in it,” he wrote. “She made me the man I am today, and everything I have in life is all thanks to her.”
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