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A controversial self-styled home birth guru with more than 40,000 social media followers has been arrested for the death of a baby after allegedly leaving the mother in labour for two days without calling for an ambulance.
Oyebola Coxon, 43, who calls herself "Bibi" online and also used the name "Enrica Kupe", was taken into custody in Wallsend, New South Wales, on 14th August.
The charge relates to the death of a baby during a prolonged home birth on 2nd October 2024.
The Italian-born midwife had built a following by promoting herself as a guru of natural childbirth through her "Mamma Informata" channel, where she repeatedly told women that ultrasounds and blood tests were unnecessary, that gestational diabetes did not exist, and that hospital visits increased the risk of infection.
In her videos and paid courses, Coxon also encouraged women to give birth at home even in high-risk cases, including breech deliveries and twins.
She promised what she called "positive births" without epidurals or caesareans, urging women to resist doctors’ advice even in emergencies.
Police said Coxon had been assisting a woman in labour in Wallsend and that the birth stretched over two days.
Despite signs of serious complications, they allege she resisted efforts to transfer the mother to hospital.
The mother eventually reached John Hunter Hospital, where doctors performed an emergency caesarean section.
By then, the baby could not be saved.
The arrest came nearly a year after the child’s death, following a police investigation into her role.
Local media reported that the mother survived but her health was severely compromised by the ordeal.
Coxon, originally from Mantua in northern Italy, studied in Parma before moving to Australia.
On social media she built up more than 40,000 followers, many of them young mothers attracted to her claims of pain-free, natural childbirth.
She often dismissed mainstream medical advice, claiming that paediatricians acted out of financial self-interest, that gestational diabetes was a "myth", and that toxoplasmosis was not a risk in pregnancy.
She also told women that waters could break days before birth without danger.
Her arrest has reignited a heated debate in both Australia and Italy about the limits of alternative health advice online and the dangers of unregulated "gurus" promoting medical misinformation to vulnerable women.
The news of Coxon’s detention was first reported in Italy by journalist and writer Francesca Bubba, who has published several investigations into her methods for The Post Internazionale.
Bubba previously warned that Coxon’s teachings were dangerous and unscientific, and has now called the case a "tragedy that could have been prevented".
Coxon's trial is set to begin at Newcastle Crown Court on 15th October.
(Mike Leidig / newsX)
Byline Journalist: Mike Leidig
Byline Sub editor: Simona Kitanovska
Byline Spotter: Ivica Stojanovski
Byline Commisioning Editor: Mike Leidig
Byline Senior Writer: Mike Leidig
Byline Picture Editor: Zorica Stojkovik
Byline Copychecker: Marija Stojkoska
Byline Illustrator: Marija Stojkoska
Byline News Editor: Simona Kitanovska
Geography: Australia
Subject: Humans, Children, Legal, Crime, Real-life, Tragedy, Social media, Society
T4 Editor Story Rating: 8
T4 Editor Pic/Vid rating: 7
T4 Total rating: 7.5
