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Triplets thrive months after mum tragically dies in childbirth

A windowed New Zealand father is coming to terms with raising four children after losing his wife in childbirth.

Chervonne Magaoa passed away in August 2017 after suffering an amniotic fluid embolism during an emergency C-section, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help the family.

Mrs Magaoa gave birth to three baby boys. She already had a fourth son, Tanner, six, with her husband Martin.

“Everyone that knows Chervonne can attest to her witty humour, her true friendship and her fierce love and devotion to her family,” the GoFundMe page says.

Chervonne Magaoa passed away in 2017 after giving birth to triplets. She's pictured here with husband, Martin, and son Tanner. Source: GoFundMe
Chervonne Magaoa passed away in 2017 after giving birth to triplets. She's pictured here with husband, Martin, and son Tanner. Source: GoFundMe

Mr and Mrs Magaoa met and married in 2007.

Mrs Magaoa underwent IVF treatment to help her conceive Tanner and the couple struggled to have more children.

A doctor told the family the mother’s cause of death was so rare it “only happens to one in 100,000 women”, Mrs Magaoa’s father, Bishop Hyran Smith, told the New Zealand Herald soon after her death.

Mr Smith said “everything was fine” and then “she got a complication”.

Now Mr Magaoa is raising the four boys without his wife. He has about 50 volunteers who help, including family members who help on rostered shifts between 6am and 10pm.

Mr Smith said a lot of them were members of the family’s church congregation as well as the local Maori community. They also fill out logbooks on how each child is – their weight, what they’ve eaten.

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Mr Magaoa said the babies are all “healthy and growing” and “happy, so we’re happy”.

But despite being happy and content, the widowed father-of-four said Tanner, who he added has been a pillar of strength and support, sometimes asks where mum is.

The triplets are being raised by their father along with about 50 volunteers. Source: GoFundMe
The triplets are being raised by their father along with about 50 volunteers. Source: GoFundMe

“I take him up to her grave and he knows. He doesn’t really cry - there’s been only once where he’s really cried for his mum,” he said.

“He understands a little bit that she’s not going to be around. He says: ‘Mummy’s in heaven’. That much he knows.

"He’s stronger (than I am). I say: ‘Okay, that’s good. You be strong for the both of us’.”