153. The Free Birth Society Scam: Emma's experience with the MatriBirth Midwifery Institute

Send us Fan Mail A glossy website, a “world's leading” tagline, and a $12,000 price point can make an online school feel vetted and legitimate. Then the curtain lifts. I sit down with Emma Moore, a fellow Mainer who grew up in Bangor and enrolled in the Free Birth Society’s Matribirth Midwifery Institute (MMI), to share what it felt like to walk in hopeful and leave alarmed, embarrassed, and determined to tell the truth. We talk about the emotional setup that makes programs like this so compelling: the hunger for sisterhood, the desire to reclaim birth, and the promise of a “sovereign midwifery” path that blends freedom with structure. Emma shares her early experience of imposter syndrome inside what was supposed to be a high-intensity cohort, the moment a traumatic birth story from Nicaragua shifted the tone, and how simple questions about terminology, risk, and integrity were treated as threats instead of openings for honest dialogue. From there, we get specific about what was missing. Emma describes a birth-focused quarter that never actually taught birth skills, a reliance on anecdote labeled “evidence-based,” and a dynamic where dissent gets reframed as “gossip.” We also trace what happened when mentors left, and students started comparing notes. Emma says she was removed quickly after calling out leadership’s denial, losing access to separate paid content and a MRF festival ticket. We close with the nuance that matters: freebirth can be a valid option for some families, but ideology that blames mothers for complications is dangerous. If you care about home birth, midwifery education, informed consent, and how to vet online birth courses, this conversation offers practical insight and hard-earned perspective. Additional Resources: MyMaineBirth.com Closing song by Kate Sutherland. You can find Kate's community songs and deep nature connection work online at KateSutherland.ca The Guardian Article - Title: Infludencer's made millions pushing 'wild' births - now the free birth society is linked to baby deaths around the world The Guardian Article - Title: She was like a deer in the headlights': How unskilled radical birthkeepers took hold in Canada The Guardian Article - Title: Five Key Findings from our investigation into the Free Birth Society The Guardian Article - Title: Friday Briefing: How the free birth society's philosophy contributed to a preventable death Interview - Exposed: the business linked to baby deaths around the world The Guardian Podcast - the BirthKeepers