Hailey Okula is well-known to millions of people as Nurse Hailey, who gained popularity on social media for sharing her candid and inspirational story of her pregnancy and infertility.
Her loved ones and fans were distraught when the well-known nursing influencer passed away soon after giving birth to her cherished child.
going into cardiac arrest.
Talking about infertility can be extremely difficult, and for many, the topic carries a heavy burden of guilt or inferiority.
Hailey Okula was all too familiar with this, having described her own two-year battle with infertility and the emotional rollercoaster that was IVF. Many people were moved by her openness, which broke down barriers and gave others the confidence to share their own stories.
Hailey, who has over 425,000 Instagram followers, talked about her painful IVF experience and her extremely personal two-year fight with infertility. Unfortunately, she will never be able to witness her child’s growth.
The nurse influencer died on March 29 after experiencing a heart attack during childbirth.
Her husband, Matthew Okula, confirmed the heartbreaking news on Instagram on April 1 with an emotional post.
I regret to notify you of the premature passing of my beautiful wife, Hailey Marie Okula, who experienced complications during labor. Words cannot express how deeply I feel the loss. Hailey is the best wife and companion I could have ever dreamed of. She was smart, attractive, hardworking, energetic, trustworthy, and most of all, fiercely loyal.
Matthew continued to reflect on Hailey’s fortitude, especially during their infertility battle:
For nearly 13 years, she helped me get through my darkest times and showed me unwavering love even when I didn’t think I deserved it. To me, she was everything.
The challenging IVF process
“Hailey’s strength was unparalleled,” he added, referring to their shared emotional journey that included the IVF treatment. There are no words to describe our desire to become parents. After a protracted, challenging IVF process and years of infertility problems, we were overjoyed to be expecting Crew. Hailey’s body suffered greatly, yet she never wavered in her strength and love as she conquered every challenge.
Matthew recalled a particularly moving example:
“I’ll never forget the day I broke down in tears and apologized for the impact the surgery will have on her. She held my face and looked directly into my eyes as she answered, “We are a team, and we’ll get through this together.” That was Hailey. A fighter. A coworker. A woman who would give her everything for the people she loved.
In September, Hailey revealed that she and her husband, firefighter Matt Okula of the Los Angeles Fire Department, were finally expecting a child after nearly two years of struggling with infertility.
She was able to talk to her son.
On September 16, she expressed her joy on Instagram, calling the experience “indescribable.” In her impassioned essay, she said, “To put it simply, the journey has been difficult, but well worth it.”
Crew, the couple’s child, was delivered on March 29 by cesarean section, according to KTTV.Hailey Okula and her child had a brief but memorable encounter, according to reporter Hailey Winslow, during which she made a joke about “how big he was” after catching a peek of him.
Despite the regrettably brief time Hailey spent with them, Matthew spoke of her unwavering devotion for their child:
Hailey loved Crew unconditionally before he was even born, despite the very short time she had with us. She would have been an amazing mother. Her enthusiasm, love, and strength will be passed on to our child and everyone else she impacted.
In an interview with KTTV, Matt Okula informed TV reporter Hailey Winslow that his wife passed away from amniotic fluid embolism (AFE), a rare and fatal condition. According to the Cleveland Clinic, AFE occurs when amniotic fluid enters a pregnant woman’s bloodstream just prior to, during, or immediately following childbirth.
Hailey Okula’s cause of death
Amniotic fluid embolism (AFE) is a rare but serious condition that occurs around 1 in 40,000 pregnancies, or 0.0025% of births in the US. According to Healthline, AFE is the leading cause of postpartum heart attacks and the second most common cause of maternal death from childbirth, despite its rarity. Regretfully, the Mayo Clinic reports that more than 60% of women who experience AFE do not survive. Both vaginal births and C-sections may result in it.
Shortly before she fell into cardiac arrest, two minutes after giving birth, Hailey Okula told the nurses that she wasn’t feeling well.
Her husband, Matt Okula, recounted the terrifying event: “A minute later, the doctor comes in and lets me know that they’re doing CPR on her.”
Then he had to make the unimaginable decision: “Am I going to the intensive care unit with my wife or am I staying with my newborn baby?” Matt said that his wife had wanted children “so incredibly bad,” so it wasn’t a decision they expected him to make.
Matt, who had been on the front lines of the Palisades Fire earlier this year, shared another touching story. For “a split second,” he added, his wife was able to catch a glimpse of their son, a moment he will “always remember.”
Fans of Hailey, who had been eagerly following her reproductive path, were upset by the news. Hailey has hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers and over 200,000 TikTok fans.Many of them offered their condolences and discussed how Hailey’s openness had helped them during their own infertility struggles.
I’m inconsolable. “I’m sending you and your family all the love,” one fan said.
“Incredible motivation”
Because of this, many of us are totally broken. It’s clear that Hailey has an impact on everyone’s lives. We LOVE you so much, Hailsyeahhh, and we promise to love Matt and baby Crew. “Until we cross paths again, crazy girl,” another person added.
Other people said, “I’m so very sorry.” Hailey’s significant impact on the nursing community will live on in our memories forever.
For nurses, Hailey was a major source of inspiration. I’m devastated by this news. I hope she rests in peace and that you and your family find strength at this trying time.
A GoFundMe campaign has been created to support Matthew Okula as he begins life with newborn Crew without his wife.
On what should have been the happiest day of their lives, Firefighter Matt Okula experienced the unimaginable, according to the page.
Millions will continue to be inspired by Hailey’s work as a nurse and infertility advocate, despite the tragically short length of her journey.
