Influencer Hailey Okula's cause of death announced as husband says she saw newborn son for 'split second' before she died

Hailey Okula died just a few days ago, not long after she gave birth to her much longed-for son Crew, who she and her husband Matthew had conceived through IVF.

Matthew announced the news of his wife’s sudden death via her Instagram. He wrote: “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I share the devastating news of the unexpected passing of my beautiful wife, Hailey Marie Okula, due to complications from childbirth. Words cannot convey the depth of the loss I feel. Hailey was more than I could have ever dreamed of in a wife and partner."

Now, in an interview with Fox 11 Los Angeles, Matthew revealed Hailey’s official cause of death and said that, minutes after their first son was born via C-Section, his wife went into cardiac arrest after suffering an amniotic fluid embolism (AFE). He added: “There’s no treatment. There’s no way of [diagnosing] it."

An AFE is a rare but serious condition with high mortality and morbidity rates which occurs when amniotic fluid enters the maternal bloodstream. It’s a critical obstetric emergency marked by sudden cardiorespiratory collapse, and is the second leading cause of peripartum maternal death, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Matthew has also said in the same interview that Hailey was able to see their baby boy for a split second before she passed away - a memory he will always cherish. “She was able to see him for a split second, and I'm always going to remember that, he said. “[Her death] just came upon me so quickly and unexpectedly.”

Hailey, aged 33, gave birth to baby Crew on Saturday, (March 29), but within moments the happiest of moments became one of the worst. Recalling what happened in the minutes after Crew was born, Matthew said: “We both looked at him and [it was] just Hailey's personality. She said a little something because she saw how big he was. We had a quick little laugh there, she had a little tear on her face.”

The grieving husband said he took his newborn son out of the delivery room for “literally a minute” when Hailey's health then took an unexpected and sudden turn. “Me and Crew walked out of the room and they said they were finishing up, she'll be there in a moment,” he went on. “Literally a minute later, the doctor came in and let me know they're doing CPR on her.”

Matthew was then faced with an agonising decision, to stay with his wife or with his newborn baby. He continued to say that he will always remember Hailey as he now raises Crew as a single parent and ensure that she knows all about his mum.

“She wanted to be a mom, so incredibly bad. She never put it on me, and the reality is it's my fertility issues,' Matthew continued. 'We found out [at the time and] she grabbed me and said ‘we're a team. We're getting through this together’. I know she would be up there telling me that ‘you got it, raise this kid, don't baby him too much, make sure you do everything we talked about doing’. She gave her life in the most noble way”, he concluded as he became emotional.

Hailey was ER nurse and had 420, 000 followers on Instagram, where she was known simply as nurse Hailey. She had launched her RN New Grads program in 2019 to support newly graduated nurses. On the website it states that it offers "educational resources, interview help.”

She had been very open about "dealing with infertility for almost two years”, but then in September she announced the "indescribable" news that she was pregnant. She went on to share lots of updates about her pregnancy with her fans in the months which followed as she excitedly waited for her first child’s birth.

Matthew, who works for the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD), paid further tribute to his wife on Instagram. He said: "Though her time with us was tragically cut short, Hailey’s love for Crew was limitless, long before he entered this world. She would have been the most amazing mom. Her spirit, courage, and love will live on in our son, and through everyone whose lives she touched."

In another post, he said: “Crew is going to grow up hearing about the incredible woman his mom was—how strong, brilliant, and fearless she was in everything she did. He’ll know that she was a true force, changing lives and leaving a legacy that will never be forgotten.”

A description on a GoFundMe page has been set up to help Matthew and baby Crew in the wake of Hailey’s tragic death. A friend who set up the page wrote in an update on it yesterday, (Thursday April 3): “Right now, Matt and Crew are still struggling to find a new direction in life.” The page raised just over $330,000 as of the afternoon of Friday April 4. The friend added in their update: “Thanks to your incredible support, Matt and Crew now have plenty of diapers, breast milk, and the basic necessities, Hailey made sure they would never go without.”