Caroline Lovell
DIAMOND VALLEY: Midwives charged after Watsonia death
Saturday, August 15, 2020
Two women have been charged as part of an investigation into a fatal home birth in Watsonia in 2012.
Homicide Squad detectives arrested a 59-year-old Preston woman in Preston on Friday morning (Aug. 14).
New South Wales Police subsequently arrested a 43-year-old Mullumbimby woman on a Victorian warrant.
Both women have been charged with manslaughter (negligence) and will be bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday (Aug. 21).
Gaye Demanuele, 53, and Melody Bourne, 43, were each charged following a long-running Victoria Police investigation.
The charges follow the death of Caroline Lovell, of Watsonia, on January 24, 2012.
Mrs Lovell, 36, died at the Austin Hospital after sustaining massive blood loss following the home birth of her second daughter at her home in Watsonia.
Coroner Peter White in 2016 recommended criminal action be considered.