Mother dies giving birth to twins at Richmond Hospital

Friends and family are mourning the passing of a Richmond mother who died as she gave birth to twins.

Wei Liu, 37, died at Richmond Hospital on Sunday, family friend David Shao said.

She leaves behind a husband, five-year-old son and newborn girls.

Shao said Liu’s husband, Victor Yu, messaged him Saturday night saying he was taking his wife to hospital to deliver twins.

“She never made her way back,” Shao said.

The twin girls were transferred to B.C. Women’s Hospital and are in stable condition, Shao said.

He and his friends were sending Yu messages of congratulations on Saturday night before they heard the news on Sunday.

On Monday, Yu posted a video online thanking everyone who has supported him and his children during this time.

“I am very thankful for everyone’s support and loving donations in this time for my family,” Yu said in Mandarin.

“This to me is light in the darkness. It gives me courage and strength to face the situation.

“There are too many things happening and the kids are too young. ”

Shao said friends and family have rallied around Yu and his three children, collecting donations and helping out with food and housework.

They are also arranging to have Yu’s relatives in China travel to B.C. to help with child care.

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) confirmed that a woman died during childbirth at Richmond Hospital on Sunday.

Spokesperson Carrie Stefanson said the health authority was unable to discuss specifics due to privacy concerns, but said at one point 35 staff members, including anesthesiology and obstetrical specialists and vascular surgeons, were working to save the woman’s life.

Stefanson noted that “maternal death in childbirth is rare, especially in pregnancies that have progressed normally.”

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There have been no maternal deaths on record at VCH hospitals since they started tracking full statistics back in 2005.

Numbers from 2015 show there were seven maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in Canada, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).