The Birth Keepers Episode 1: Inside the Free Birth Society and radical birth freedom

Episode snapshot

Guardian Investigates' The Birth Keepers probes the rise of the Free Birth Society, led by Emily Saldea and Yolanda Norris Clark, and how its online narratives influenced real-world birth choices. The story centers on Nicole Garrison in New Jersey and her friend Olivia, tracing how a closed membership and radical-responsibility ethos can shape decisions about medical care. When Nicole experiences a life-threatening hemorrhage after her home birth, the episode reveals the human stakes behind the movement, the tension between autonomy and safety, and the way online communities frame hospitalization and medical intervention.

Introduction and context

The Birth Keepers, a Guardian Investigates series, dives into the Free Birth Society (FBS), led by Emily Saldea and Yolanda Norris Clark, and the movement’s promise of autonomy from the medical system. The episode follows Nicole Garrison, a New Jersey mother-to-be, who discovers FBS after researching birth options online. Nicole’s exploration begins with a curiosity about a more independent birth, then deepens as she becomes part of a closed online group with around 600 members for an annual fee of 499, gaining access to calls with senior figures and a stream of testimonies about birth without medical oversight.

We hear how Emily and Yolanda present free birth as a script for empowerment, while warning against hospital interventions. The movement’s messaging emphasizes radical responsibility, often portraying the medical system as coercive. A key tension emerges between personal agency and medical risk, as Nicole's early fascination with FBS stories collides with the reality of labor and potential complications.

“This is real, this is undisturbed real birth.” - Emily Saldea

The recruitment and rhetoric

Two central figures draw followers: Emily Saldea, the public-facing founder, and Yolanda Norris Clark, her partner in shaping birth narratives. Olivia, Nicole’s friend in Northern California, is introduced as a reader of anthropology and a skeptic who begins to question the group’s stance on medical care. The episode describes how the membership’s rules, including a ban on sharing details of hospital care within the group, help create a self-reinforcing echo chamber where testimonies about safe, off-grid births proliferate while dissenting views are sidelined.

We see the mechanics of the platform, the podcast episodes, and the testimonials that fuel a sense of community and control. A critical moment comes when Nicole, influenced by FBS content, decides to avoid licensed midwives and hospital care, chasing the idea that a “free birth” can be an ideal birth path with a minimal risk profile. The reporting uses patient diaries and interviews to reveal how the movement’s rhetoric can reshape perception of risk and medical necessity.

“orgasmic blissful birth is a choice that any woman can make to have.” - Yolanda Norris Clark

The crisis and aftermath

Nicole’s labor does not progress, waters break, and over days the risk of infection grows. The episode details her decision to delay hospital transfer, the warnings she hears from friends in the group, and the eventual life-threatening hemorrhage that requires four blood transfusions and a complete placental removal at the hospital. The medical team emphasizes that an infection likely caused the catastrophic bleed, challenging the narrative that hospital care would have harmed her outcome. The reporting highlights the clash between the movement’s preferred framing of safety, and the undeniable reality of medical emergencies that require intervention. The episode closes with reflections on accountability, power, and the ethical dimensions of influencing childbirth choices through online communities and celebrity-style branding.

“If a healthy mom and a healthy baby go into labor, a healthy mom and a healthy baby come out of labor.” - Nicole