Heartbreaking tributes have been paid to an 'absolutely amazing mother' who died after the birth of her fourth child.
Laura Hilpert, from Kenton, Newcastle, died in the Royal Victoria Infirmary this week, shortly after meeting her newborn son Duaine Thomas-Lee for the first time.
Originally from Fawdon, Laura, 35, had battled health problems all of her life, but had longed to be a parent. Always a 'fighter', Laura defied doctors' predictions that she would never give birth and had three daughters, who family say 'were here life'.
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Laura's older brother Chris Davies, 40, said: "Laura has been in and out of hospital since she was a baby, she had problems with her bones and her skull, she's had surgery throughout her life. They always said she would never have children, so when she had the three little girls she was over the moon."
Laura had wanted a son to 'complete her family' and was overjoyed when she and husband Lee discovered she was pregnant again. But at the start of May, medics discovered the little boy had stopped growing, and would need to be delivered by C-section.
Duaine was born on May 3 and, after three weeks in the RVI's neonatal unit, he was strong enough to go home with his dad Lee. But, tragically, his mum wasn't.
Laura suffered a haemorrhage following the C-section, her organs starting to shut down as she lost blood. After three weeks on life support in intensive care, undergoing emergency surgery to her bowels, doctors said there was nothing more they could do.
The devoted mum died on May 25, with her husband and children at her bedside. During her time in intensive care Laura regained consciousness only briefly, but enough to meet her longed-for son.
Tragically, the little boy will now never get to know his 'doting' mum, though he'll hear stories about her from the family who adored her, as well as his dad and sisters Lillie, 11, Darcy, seven, and Esmae, six.
Chris said: "The kids were her life, they were everything to her. She loved her family, she lived for her kids.
"We will just say to Duaine that she was an absolutely amazing mother, that they wouldn't have wanted for anything, that they had all her love. It's going to be hard."
In a bid to give Laura 'the send off she deserves', her family has set up a Just Giving page to help fund her funeral. Left with four young children to care for, money is tight for husband Lee, but he hopes to be able to pay tribute to his beloved wife with a fitting ceremony.
"Lee has been left by himself to deal with it all, I can't imagine what he's going through. We want to raise anything that we can to help him," Chris said.
He added: "[Laura] had so many issues that affected her physically and even more mentally but she always stayed strong for her children, never asking for help. This is the last thing we can do for her."
Donations for Laura's funeral can be made at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/katrina-davies
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