Latest news with #Okula
Los Angeles Times
12-04-2025
- Health
- Los Angeles Times
L.A. firefighter urges awareness of rare birthing complication that led to his wife's death
A Los Angeles firefighter is fighting to raise awareness about the rare but life-threatening birthing complication that resulted in the death of his wife, local nursing influencer Hailey Marie Okula. Matthew Okula said he hopes his efforts help educate expecting mothers and encourage them to discuss the potential complication — amniotic fluid embolism — with their healthcare providers. But aside from raising public awareness, he said he wants Hailey's story to prompt additional medical research. 'My hope is that we find a way to figure this out prior to it being a fatal complication that you're running around trying to save someone's life,' he said. After nearly two years of in vitro fertilization treatment, the Okulas announced their pregnancy by posting a video on Hailey's popular 'Rn New Grads' Instagram account in September 2024. The announcement was extra meaningful to the couple because 'we [had] gone through a lot, [Hailey] had gone through a lot with the shots, medicine, hormones that have to go into your body to get it ready,' Okula told The Times on Friday. 'To have success at the end, it was really special for us.' The two met nearly 13 years ago and set their sights on careers they knew would help their community. She became an emergency room nurse; he, a Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter. Okula describes his wife, known as 'Nurse Hailey' on Instagram and TikTok, as a driven individual and entrepreneur whose vision of supporting graduating nurses and helping them find jobs grew into a vibrant social media hub that included interview flashcards for sale and videos of her real-life experiences in the emergency room. Now Okula is leaning on the support of that online community — as well as his family and colleagues — after Hailey's death from amniotic fluid embolism on March 29. Amniotic fluid embolism is an extremely rare but life-threatening complication that has stumped healthcare providers because there aren't any preceding risk factors, making it impossible to prevent, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders. Three days before her death, Hailey was 41 weeks pregnant and scheduled to be induced at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley. Okula said they wanted to try a natural birth because they had talked about doing IVF treatment again. The couple hoped to eventually grow their family to four children. During delivery, healthcare providers said Hailey would have to have a cesarean section. The procedure was successful and Crew, their baby boy, was born. 'I hear the baby crying and [the doctors] lift him up, we see him and Hailey says something about how big he was,' Okula said. At the time everything seemed normal. Okula said he cut Crew's umbilical cord and the doctor let him know Hailey was doing great and he could wait for her in the next room with the baby. His last conversation with Hailey was to tell her how beautiful Crew was and that he would see her in the next room. 'She got a little tear on her face, so I wiped it away,' he said. Just minutes later, the doctor came into the room and told Okula that Hailey's heart had stopped. Okula rushed back to the delivery room in a shocked state and found '15 people doing all these different interventions to bring her back.' Hailey was rushed to the intensive care unit, but hospital staff soon delivered the devastating news: She had died from amniotic fluid embolism, a complication Okula had never heard of before. Amniotic fluid, which is contained within the amniotic sac, supports, cushions and protects a developing fetus. Researchers hypothesize that the complication occurs when a pregnant woman has a severe allergic reaction to the amniotic fluid or other material such as fetal cells that enter the mother's bloodstream — which is a normal occurrence, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders. Amniotic fluid embolism can lead to heart and lung failure, which causes several complications due to a lack of oxygenated blood, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Symptoms include shortness of breath, a sudden drop in blood pressure, and bleeding issues often leading to cardiac arrest and massive hemorrhaging. The complication is sudden and can affect both the mother and baby either before, during or immediately after labor and childbirth, experts say. Because of its rarity and high fatality rate, the Amniotic Fluid Embolism Foundation says it's exceptionally difficult to study. However, it's estimated to affect 1 in 40,000 births, with a mortality rate ranging from 20% to 60%.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Husband speaks out after wife dies from serious complication in childbirth
A California husband and father is speaking out and raising awareness about a serious pregnancy complication after his wife died after giving birth to their first child. Matthew Okula, 34, told "Good Morning America" that his late wife Hailey Marie Okula, who was an emergency room nurse and a popular influencer behind the "RN New Grads" online platform for nurses, died on March 29 at the age of 33. Okula, a firefighter for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said his wife's death occurred after about three days of laboring and after she underwent a Cesarean section at Ocean Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. The couple's son, named Crew, was born healthy, weighing just over 9 pounds, Okula said. While he was spending time at their newborn's side after his birth, Okula said he learned his "very healthy" wife's condition had deteriorated. "A minute later, the doctor comes in briefly, tells me her oxygen levels has dropped. They're working on getting them up," he recalled. "I'm a fireman. I've been a medic for over 10 years and didn't really worry about it because she's in the hospital, very healthy." Mom suffers near-fatal stroke just hours after giving birth Okula said doctors performed CPR on his wife and rushed her to the intensive care unit, where he said she was told she died of an amniotic fluid embolism, a pregnancy complication that ultimately prevented her brain from receiving enough oxygen. When reached for comment by "GMA," a spokesperson for Orange Coast Medical Center declined to comment specifically on Hailey Okula's death, citing privacy. "While privacy restrictions prevent us from commenting in this instance, we are aware of the story and join in the public outpouring of condolences and support for the family," the spokesperson said in a statement. Matthew Okula said he is "destroyed" by his wife's unexpected and sudden death, but he is sharing her story publicly and widely to spread the word about amniotic fluid embolism, a complication he said he didn't know about. According to StatPearls, an online library published in the National Library of Medicine, an amniotic fluid embolism happens when the fluid surrounding the baby gets into the mother's bloodstream. This triggers a severe reaction in the mother's body that can cause blockages in the blood vessels, which can lead to the heart suddenly stopping, breathing problems, brain damage or kidney failure. Symptoms of an amniotic fluid embolism include shortness of breath, a sudden drop in blood pressure, fluid in the lungs, an abnormal heart rate, bleeding from the uterus, C-section incision or an IV site, agitation, confusion or anxiety. The risk for an amniotic fluid embolism can also increase with labor induction or if a mother has a pre-existing cardiac disease or a cerebrovascular disorder. Dad raises newborn daughter alone after mom dies due to pregnancy complications According to StatPearls, amniotic fluid embolisms are estimated to affect 2.2 to 7.7 of 100,000 deliveries, contributing to about 7.5% of maternal deaths in the United States. Okula said he plans on telling his son Crew what an "amazing" person his mother was and the "massive" impact she had on the world. Hailey Okula's "RN New Grads" Instagram boasted nearly 500,000 followers -- and in an April 2 post about her death, over 10,000 followers left messages of condolences. "I just hope that something can come from this," Okula said. "I think many pregnant moms don't know about it," he added. "It's such a fatal thing that could happen to anyone." Husband speaks out after wife dies from serious complication in childbirth originally appeared on
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Husband speaks out after wife dies from serious complication in childbirth
A California husband and father is speaking out and raising awareness about a serious pregnancy complication after his wife died after giving birth to their first child. Matthew Okula, 34, told "Good Morning America" that his late wife Hailey Marie Okula, who was an emergency room nurse and a popular influencer behind the "RN New Grads" online platform for nurses, died on March 29 at the age of 33. Okula, a firefighter for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said his wife's death occurred after about three days of laboring and after she underwent a Cesarean section at Ocean Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. The couple's son, named Crew, was born healthy, weighing just over 9 pounds, Okula said. While he was spending time at their newborn's side after his birth, Okula said he learned his "very healthy" wife's condition had deteriorated. "A minute later, the doctor comes in briefly, tells me her oxygen levels has dropped. They're working on getting them up," he recalled. "I'm a fireman. I've been a medic for over 10 years and didn't really worry about it because she's in the hospital, very healthy." Mom suffers near-fatal stroke just hours after giving birth Okula said doctors performed CPR on his wife and rushed her to the intensive care unit, where he said she was told she died of an amniotic fluid embolism, a pregnancy complication that ultimately prevented her brain from receiving enough oxygen. When reached for comment by "GMA," a spokesperson for Orange Coast Medical Center declined to comment specifically on Hailey Okula's death, citing privacy. "While privacy restrictions prevent us from commenting in this instance, we are aware of the story and join in the public outpouring of condolences and support for the family," the spokesperson said in a statement. Matthew Okula said he is "destroyed" by his wife's unexpected and sudden death, but he is sharing her story publicly and widely to spread the word about amniotic fluid embolism, a complication he said he didn't know about. According to StatPearls, an online library published in the National Library of Medicine, an amniotic fluid embolism happens when the fluid surrounding the baby gets into the mother's bloodstream. This triggers a severe reaction in the mother's body that can cause blockages in the blood vessels, which can lead to the heart suddenly stopping, breathing problems, brain damage or kidney failure. Symptoms of an amniotic fluid embolism include shortness of breath, a sudden drop in blood pressure, fluid in the lungs, an abnormal heart rate, bleeding from the uterus, C-section incision or an IV site, agitation, confusion or anxiety. The risk for an amniotic fluid embolism can also increase with labor induction or if a mother has a pre-existing cardiac disease or a cerebrovascular disorder. Dad raises newborn daughter alone after mom dies due to pregnancy complications According to StatPearls, amniotic fluid embolisms are estimated to affect 2.2 to 7.7 of 100,000 deliveries, contributing to about 7.5% of maternal deaths in the United States. Okula said he plans on telling his son Crew what an "amazing" person his mother was and the "massive" impact she had on the world. Hailey Okula's "RN New Grads" Instagram boasted nearly 500,000 followers -- and in an April 2 post about her death, over 10,000 followers left messages of condolences. "I just hope that something can come from this," Okula said. "I think many pregnant moms don't know about it," he added. "It's such a fatal thing that could happen to anyone." Husband speaks out after wife dies from serious complication in childbirth originally appeared on
CBS News
03-04-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Hailey Okula, nurse influencer, dies from childbirth complications following infertility struggles
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. 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.
