A first-time mother died from complications following a cesarean section just 30 minutes after giving birth to her twins.
Rachael Galloway, 36, died on August 1 at Royal Lancaster Infirmary. The hospital said it was conducting an internal investigation and that there was an ongoing coroner’s investigation, but it gave no details.
Galloway, from Carnforth, Lancashire, lived long enough to see one of her sons nursed for the first time by his father, Matt Whittaker.
He said there were “tears of joy when she saw them, when she knew they were healthy … she was so happy, so proud, so full of love.” Whittaker, 36, is caring for the babies, Noah and Abel.
The couple got engaged a few days before the twins were born and wanted the children to be present at the wedding ceremony.
Whittaker said: “She was the best thing that ever happened to me.
“The Friday we got engaged, we were eating our dinner and I remember sitting there and saying to Rachael, ‘Can you believe this is our life? Life can’t get any better than this.’”
On the day of the C-section, Galloway was “nervous as hell” but also “strong as hell,” he said.
She “kept a brave face until the boys were born. Then there were tears of joy, when I saw them, when I knew they were healthy, and when I saw myself feeding Noah his first baby.”
Whittaker added: “She was so happy, so proud, so full of love. She had the world in her eyes when she looked at our boys.
“It’s a shame this was the last time she saw them, but I hope she’s still watching over them.”
His fiancée was “the best person I’ve ever met, she made the world a better place.”
“Not just because she was smart, funny, driven, beautiful, caring, patient and so much more, but because she made the people around her better.
“She saw and brought out the best in people and I am living proof that she could see what no one else could see.
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“I have to make her proud and make sure our boys grow up to be the gentlemen she would have been proud of.”
Friends of the couple have set up a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign to raise money to help Whittaker pay for his fiancée’s funeral and support his family while he is unable to work. As of Friday afternoon, almost £21,000 had been raised.
Dan Galloway Rachael’s brother wrote: “She was a wonderful girl, caring, strong, kind and the life of the party. She was passionate about keeping fit and was always planning what walk she would do next. She was also a keen Liverpool supporter.
“She lost her mother at a young age and always vowed to live a life that our mother would be proud of. She achieved that and more.”
Sue Stansfield, interim director of midwifery at Morecambe Bay University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our sincere condolences are with all family and friends affected by this sad loss.
“As we are conducting an internal investigation and there is an ongoing coroner’s investigation, we are unable to comment further at this time other than to say we will continue to support the family and colleagues involved.”