Hailey Okula, a nurse influencer, has died after giving birth to her first child, a son named Crew, her husband said. They had dealt with infertility for almost two years.
Okula, a 33-year-old ER nurse known online as “Nurse Hailey,” openly shared her journey with infertility and pregnancy on social media to her to nearly 1 million followers combined.
On Tuesday, Okula’s husband Matthew Okula, a Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter, confirmed the news on her Instagram.
“Hailey’s strength was unparalleled. Words can’t describe how badly we wanted to be parents. After years of infertility struggles and a long, challenging IVF process, we were overjoyed to be expecting Crew,” he wrote on her page, rnnewgrads. “Hailey faced every hurdle with so much courage and love—even though her body went through so much, she never wavered.”
In an interview with Fox 11 Los Angeles, Matthew Okula said his wife went into cardiac arrest caused by an amniotic fluid embolism shortly after Crew was delivered on Saturday via C-section.
“A minute later, the doctor comes in and lets me know that they’re they’re doing CPR on her. I’m making the decision, am I going to the ICU with my wife or staying with my newborn, little baby — not a decision we thought I would be making,” he told the outlet.
A GoFundMe page created to help Crew and his newly single father amassed more than its goal of $250,000 as of Thursday.
What is amniotic fluid embolism?
An amniotic fluid embolism, or anaphylactic syndrome of pregnancy, is a rare, life-threatening complication that can occur after during delivery or shortly after.
It happens when amniotic fluid, the liquid that surrounds the fetus in the uterus during pregnancy, gets into the mother’s bloodstream, the Cleveland Clinic explains.
According to the clinic, the exact cause is unknown. Amniotic fluid entering your bloodstream is a normal part of childbirth, but some people have a severe allergic response to the amniotic fluid, which is mostly water with fetal cells and tissue, mixing with their blood.
The reaction can lead to lung and heart failure, and like in Okula’s case, cardiac arrest, which is when your heart stops beating.
People with amniotic fluid embolism may also “bleed uncontrollably from their uterus or C-section incision,” the clinic notes.
The complication affects 1 in every 40,000 deliveries in the United States, according to the Amniotic Fluid Embolism Foundation, an education, research and support organization for impacted families.
“For perspective, there are approximately 4 million deliveries in the United States meaning approximately 100 women may suffer an amniotic fluid embolism,” the foundation’s website notes, adding published rates of survivability range from 20 to 60%.
“Although survivability has increased over the last 20 years with advances in critical care and obstetric medicine, it cannot be emphasized enough that an amniotic fluid embolism is extremely difficult to treat and considered one of the most fatal birth complications in the world,” the foundation adds.
Sara MoniuszkoSara Moniuszko is a health and lifestyle reporter at CBSNews.com. Previously, she wrote for USA Today, where she was selected to help launch the newspaper’s wellness vertical. She now covers breaking and trending news for CBS News’ HealthWatch.
