A “completely healthy” woman who died just hours after giving birth to a baby had “dreamed of being a mother all her life”, her heartbroken family has revealed.
Emily Lockley suffered a suspected pulmonary aneurysm that damaged her heart while she was in labour, and despite doctors’ best efforts to resuscitate the new mother, she died just four hours after baby Harley was born.
The tragedy has left the healthy baby, who was born on February 6 weighing 8lb 1oz, motherless, with his father Tyler Collinson, 27, having to raise the boy alongside his partner’s grieving family. .
Remembering her older sister, Chloe Stokes, 24, revealed the death, which occurred one day after her 26th birthday, came as a “total shock as Emily had a perfectly normal pregnancy.”
A fundraiser to help support little Harley and fund the funeral of Mrs Lockley, who the family called “Little Dancing Queen, because she loved ABBA”, has raised more than £12,000.
Emily Lockley, 26, suffered a suspected pulmonary aneurysm that damaged her heart while she was in labour.
The young woman had been taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital on the night of her 26th birthday. Tragically she died just four hours after giving birth.
Mrs Lockley and her partner had been living in their family home in Stoke-on-Trent, with his mother Tracey Wootton, 46, his stepfather Mark Wootton, 57, and his stepbrother Kieran Wootton, 17.
Mrs Wootton promised to look after her eldest daughter’s “beautiful Harley boy”, adding that the family will “pass on the love you will send from heaven”.
Harley and his father still live in the Wootton house as he continues to navigate fatherhood without his beloved partner.
He said: “We were both very excited to become parents and Emily helped give me so much faith in myself that I was going to do the best job as a parent.” She supported and prepared me so much that I was amazed.
‘I felt like the luckiest man in the world because she chose to live life with me. She was one in a million.
The expectant mother’s social media pages were filled with posts about her excitement about becoming a mother.
A photo shared just a few months showed Lockley smiling at the camera and holding her baby bump, with the caption “back when I was a mom.”
Other posts show photos from her gender reveal party and ultrasounds of her ‘little bubbles’.
Announcing her pregnancy in August, an excited Lockley wrote: “Something exciting is making us happy: we are changing our names to mom and dad.” Baby Collinson will be born in February 2024.
The young woman’s family said that she had always dreamed of being a mother and wanted two or three children.
Speaking after her death, her sister said that Lockley had “dreamed of being a mother and would have wanted two or three babies if she could have”.
Lockley went into labor on February 5, her birthday, and was taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital with her mother and partner, where she spent the night.
The decision was made to induce her at 12 noon on February 6. She became very sleepy and suddenly she “took a very deep breath and collapsed.”
His sister, Miss Stokes, told him mirror: ‘The doctors rushed her to the operating room and took Harley out. Harley was born at 7.56am and shortly after 12pm the doctors told us that Emily had passed away. They tried to revive her a couple of times, but they couldn’t.’
“As far as we knew, there was nothing wrong with him,” his younger sister said. ‘Emily loved running and she regularly went running with Tyler. A couple of years ago she ran a half marathon.
The hospital has not yet determined the exact cause of death, but doctors told his family it was thought to have been caused by a “pulmonary aneurysm.”
Despite the horrific situation, the family remains grateful to the neonatal unit that helped keep Harley safe.
Miss Stokes added: ‘Harley is Emily’s real spit. She has her big blue eyes, she has her nose; her whole face is Emily. He would have loved her.
A tribute in a GoFundMe Page for Lockley added: ‘Emily was a 26-year-old woman who dreamed of being a mother all her life. Emily kept her little boy very safe and spoke daily about how excited she was to finally have the life of her dreams.’
MailOnline has contacted Royal Stoke University Hospital for comment.