Mother who died after giving birth was ‘exceptional’, her husband says

She was laid to rest on Thursday but her “big happy laugh” will live long in his memory, Michael said.

“She knew how to love people in the way they needed to be loved. Everyone needs that and she knew how to show them that love,” he said.

He used words like ‘exceptional’, ‘amazing’, and ‘incredible’, looking to capture her spirit, so people remember her, not how she died.

“What Naomi did was she allowed people to be themselves,” he said.

She knew how to show people love, it was always without judgement or preconditions.

A well-known wedding and family photographer, the Dundalk woman had friends across Ireland and the globe.

“She was just always looking out for other people,” he said.

“In day to day life, you just take those things for granted, until they are gone and you just realise ‘wow, the impact that she has’”.

She was a fan of family activities which, with toddler twin boys and a five-year-old girl, soon to be six, was not always easy.

“I would wonder ‘why, why do we have to do this’? but now I realise why,” he said.

“We have all those memories and photographs to look back on, she just wanted the family to bond over things. 

“It doesn’t matter what we were doing, but just to do it together.” 

The couple met as young teens through school and youth group.

With Naomi five years older than him, it took a while for friendship to grow into love, although he admitted, laughing,: “I’d always fancied her since I was young.” 

In a band with her brother and best friend, they had Naomi as designated driver but he found himself spending more time with her than his bandmates after gigs.

Together for 10 years and married for eight, he said: “I’ve been shown more love in those 10 years than in my whole life previously, it was a different level of love, she is amazing.” 

Her organisational skills even led her to fundraise and provide care packs for healthcare workers at Louth hospitals during the dark early days of the pandemic.

The tragic circumstances of Naomi’s death have led to an outpouring of sympathy with over €48,000 donated to a GoFundMe set up by a friend.

“She was just so passionate about mothers and births, she was just so passionate about it and women being able to make decisions about themselves and for their babies themselves,” he said.

While there was no eulogy at the funeral as no one had the strength, a friend read some memories which he described as “perfect, it was beautiful”.

This is just the start of sharing stories including with their youngest son who was brought home on Friday from Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in Drogheda.

“She was a good one,” he said simply.