'Beautiful' first-time mum Rachael Galloway died minutes after giving birth to twins as hospital launches probe
A woman has died 30 minutes after giving birth to her twins following C-section complications.
Rachael Galloway, 36, passed away on August 1 at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary after giving birth to her twin sons via C-section. The new mum is said to have been able to see her partner Mark Whittaker feed one of their children before passing away.
Mr Whittaker, who now cares for twins Noah and Able, said that “she was so happy, so proud, so full of love”. The couple had only become engaged a few days before the birth and had begun planning to make the twin boys part of their big day.
The grieving new dad said: “She was the best thing that ever happened to me. On the Friday we got engaged we ate our meal and I remember sitting there saying to Rachael, ‘Can you believe that this is our life? Life really couldn’t get any better.’”
Mr Whittaker, who is self-employed, described his fiancé as “nervous as hell” the day of the planned C-section but also “strong as hell”. Speaking of the moment she saw her children for the first time, he said: “She had the world in her eyes when she looked at our boys. It’s a shame that was the last time she cast her eyes on them, but I hope she is still watching over them.”
Bosses at Royal Lancaster Hospital have now launched a probe in what went wrong during Ms Galloway’s time at the hospital. Sue Stansfield, the interim director of midwifery at Morecambe Bay university hospitals NHS foundation trust, said: “Our heartfelt condolences go out all family and friends affected by this sad loss.
“As we are in the process of carrying out an internal review and there is an ongoing coroner’s investigation, we can’t comment further at this stage – except to say we will continue to support the family and colleagues involved.”
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been launched by Mr Galloway’s friends and has since been taken over by her brother, Dan. The fundraiser, which had raised more than £25,000, read: “All those who knew Rachael were so happy for her, she was an amazing girl, caring, strong, kind, and the life and soul of any party. She was passionate about keeping fit and was always planning what hike to do next. She was an avid Liverpool supporter also.”
Dan added that fund will be used to support Mr Whittaker in the coming years. He said: “Although no amount of money could ever compensate for the families loss, we are hoping to raise funds to help Matt get by in the immediate future (Matt is self employed and is now unlikely to be able to work for the next few years) and set some aside for the boys future.”