Pregnant mother, 36, collapsed and died in a hospital car park DAYS before she ...

A pregnant mother collapsed in a hospital car park and died soon after from a rare complication just days before she was due to give birth.

Rachel Molloy, 36, suffered from a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm - a rare complication of pregnancy that often leads to the death of both mother and baby.

She and her husband Nick had driven her to the hospital when she began having abdominal pains, believing she was about to go into labour.

Mr Molloy, 35, went from being an excited second-time father-to-be to a widower in fear of losing his newborn baby. 

Baby Isabelle was delivered by C-section at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester on April 24. Mrs Molloy will never get to meet her baby because she died the next day.    

She didn't know she was expecting a little girl as she had wanted it to be a surprise, with the news of Isabelle's arrival one of the last things Mr Molloy ever whispered to his wife before she passed away.

Rachel Molloy, 36, suffered from a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm - a rare complication of pregnancy- in the car park of the hospital at nine months pregnant. Pictured with her husband, Nick, on their wedding day in 2014

Rachel Molloy, 36, suffered from a ruptured splenic artery aneurysm - a rare complication of pregnancy- in the car park of the hospital at nine months pregnant. Pictured with her husband, Nick, on their wedding day in 2014 

Mrs and Mr Molloy had driven her to the hospital when she began having abdominal pains, believing she was about to go into labour. Pictured with her first child, James

Mrs and Mr Molloy had driven her to the hospital when she began having abdominal pains, believing she was about to go into labour. Pictured with her first child, James

Baby Isabelle was delivered by C-section at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester on April 24. Two months on, Isabelle is still being looked after by a neonatal intensive care team

Baby Isabelle was delivered by C-section at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester on April 24. Two months on, Isabelle is still being looked after by a neonatal intensive care team

Mr Molloy, from Sale, Greater Manchester, said: 'She was the light of my life and my true soulmate,' he said.

'I can't imagine this world without her, because she was my world.'

'Rach never got to meet our little girl.

'It breaks my heart to think that Isabelle will never get to meet her mother. But I know Rach's memory will live on in her children and everyone who knew her.'

There were no symptoms leading up to the aneurysm - the pregnancy had been as smooth and uneventful as her first.

Rupture of a splenic artery aneurysm (SAA) is a rare condition which affects the blood vessel that supplies oxygenated blood to the spleen.

It occurs four times more frequently in women compared to men, and 95 per cent of the time during a pregnancy, most commonly during the third trimester

Hormonal and physiologic changes have been proposed to explain the increased incidence of SAA in pregnancy, as oestrogen, progesterone, and relaxin may change the structure of the arterial wall. 

Maternal mortality rates are around 75 per cent while fetal mortality rates are approximately 95 per cent. 

Just days before, Mr and Mrs Molloy and their son James, three, had enjoyed a day out in the sun on Easter Monday.

But then, on April 24, Mrs Molloy started having abdominal pains, the most common sign of SAA.

Mr Molloy drove her to Wythenshawe Hospital, but the aneurysm ruptured and she collapsed in the car park.

Mrs Molloy wasn't breathing, her heart had stopped, and Isabelle had to be delivered by C-section. The details of her delivery are unclear.

Her loved ones were told she had suffered a cardiac arrested and she was put on life support. 

Tragically, Mrs Molloy could not be saved, and she died in the early hours of the next morning.

Two months on, Isabelle is still being looked after by the neonatal intensive care team at Saint Mary's Hospital in Manchester.

Although she is no longer on a ventilator, the long term consequences of any brain damage won't be known for quite some time.

Mr Molloy said: 'You hear of tragedies but they don't really hit home for you - they happen on the news and in films. But when it happens to you, you just can't believe it.

'If this hadn't happened to Rach then Isabelle would have been fine - she would have been a little early, but she was a healthy weight

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