Matthew Okula, the husband of renowned nursing influencer Hailey Okula, has shared the poignant final moments he spent with his wife before she tragically passed away due to complications during childbirth. The couple, who had been trying to conceive for two years, were able to share a brief moment of joy over the size of their newborn son, Crew, before Hailey suffered a cardiac arrest.
Matthew, in an interview with Fox 11 Los Angeles, recounted the harrowing moment when he had to decide between staying with his newborn son or rushing to the ICU to be with his wife. Hailey, who was a popular figure in the nursing community, quickly succumbed to an amniotic fluid embolism, a condition where remnants from the womb obstruct the mother’s blood flow.
Amniotic fluid embolism is a leading cause of maternal mortality during and immediately after childbirth, accounting for 7.5% of all maternal deaths, as per data from the National Institutes of Health. For Hailey, who was known as “Nurse Hailey” to her hundreds of thousands of followers, her death marked a tragic end to her two-year journey to motherhood, a journey she had openly shared on social media.
Matthew, a firefighter with the Los Angeles Fire Department, shared with Fox 11 how much Hailey had wanted to become a mother. When she announced her pregnancy in September, she described the feeling as “indescribable.” She had been candid about her and Matthew’s struggles with infertility, including their shared genetic disease that required a special medical procedure.
Matthew expressed his profound grief over the loss of his wife, sharing a touching video collage of their relationship. He recalled a moment when he apologized to Hailey for the strain their fertility journey would put on her, to which she responded, “We are a team, and we’ll get through this together.”
Hailey had dedicated her online career to inspiring and supporting other healthcare professionals. In 2019, she initiated the RN New Grads project, a platform offering guidance and resources to nurses at the start of their careers. Matthew described Hailey as “gorgeous, smart, hardworking, passionate, trustworthy, and, above all else, unbelievably loyal,” and expressed his gratitude for her unwavering love and support throughout their 13-year relationship.