‘At least I have my daughter,’ says father of baby born after mother’s death

A woman who died while six months’ pregnant became a mom after her death.

In November 2017 Emma Olubayo (41) collapsed at her home in Leicester, England, after suffering from an undetected heart defect that caused her heart to stop.

Her husband, Emmanuel (34), said the day of Emma’s death was just like any other normal day.

“We’d spent the morning together watching TV in bed but then just hours later when we had a friend round she was suddenly gasping for breath in the living room.”

The paramedics were called and after they spent an hour trying to resuscitate Emma, they decided it would be best to perform an emergency C-section to save her baby.

Despite being 10 weeks premature, little Aretha survived the birth.

She was rushed to hospital shortly after she was born.

“Aretha also stopped breathing at one point but a paramedic managed to save her by placing her on his chest.

“They also worked incredibly hard to revive Emma for more than an hour but there wasn’t anything that could be done to save her.”

Emmanuel said Emma had battled to stay alive.

“It was a surreal moment: our baby laid on the sofa behind me while the love of my life was dying on the living-room floor.

“I remember the way she looked at me. She was scared but she was fighting for Aretha.”

But unfortunately Emma died that night.

“The last thing I remember her saying to me was ‘quick cuddle’, so I made sure I was cuddling her.”

Emmanuel says now he’s fighting to make sure Aretha has the best life under the circumstances and always remembers her mother.

“It’s crazy how alike Aretha is to her mother. I see Emma in her every day, which does sometimes make it harder.”

Emma and Emmanuel first met in 2016 on a dating website and were married 10 months later.

But Emma passed away a mere eight months after their wedding, leaving behind her new husband and the baby girl she’d always dreamt of having.

“Almost immediately after we were married we found out we were pregnant and she was over the moon to be a mom.

“She couldn’t believe she was having a child of her own. She loves children and it was always her dream to have one of her own.”

Emmanuel said the pain of losing the love of his life is indescribable.

“At least I have Aretha.”