‘She was like a deer in headlights’: how unskilled radical birthkeepers took hold in Canada

Yolande Norris-Clark (above), who was born in Vancouver, is arguably the most famous freebirth influencer in the world. She is also a key figure in FBS, a US company run by her business partner and fellow ex-doula Emilee Saldaya. FBS, which promotes an extreme version of free birth in which women abandon any form of prenatal care and give birth without doctors or midwives present, is estimated to have generated more than $13m in revenues since 2018. A recent Guardian investigation identified 48 cases of late-term stillbirths or neonatal deaths or other forms of serious harm involving mothers or birth attendants who appear to be linked to FBS.