Emily Mitchell, an Instagram influencer who was expecting to give birth to her fifth child in 2021, died unexpectedly on Dec. 22.
Mitchell's death came as a shock to friends and family, as noted in a GoFundMe page started to help Emily's husband Joseph and their four children. According to that page, "Em was having her morning coffee and toast when she suddenly became unresponsive. Despite the prompt attention of her children, husband, father and other medical personnel, all valiant efforts to resuscitate were unsuccessful. She went home to be with the Lord. The doctors are still working on answers for her family. We will update everyone with answers when we get them."
She ran the Hidden Way Instagram account, which captured rural life from her Rhode Island home with her husband and four children, including her pregnancy and her Christian faith, for 126,000 followers.
In her final post, from Dec. 8, she posed with her family in a post revealing she'd be delivering her baby via Cesarean section, and encouraging those who were planning to give birth via the same procedure.
"However your baby gets here, just know YOUR EXPERIENCE is valid and worthy," she wrote. "YOU are no less a mother if you needed emergency medical intervention, had a planned c-section, or an epidural. You aren’t a ‘better’ mother if you had a home birth or an unmedicated vaginal birth. And if you grew your brood through adoption or surrogacy or family blending? Those are YOUR babies and YOU SIT PROUDLY at the table of motherhood."
In her online obituary, she was described as "a devoted wife and incredible mother to her four children" who "possessed a deep faith that was the foundation for everything in her life."
The obituary went on to say, "Beautiful inside and out, Emily had an infectious smile and a kind, compassionate spirit. Her exuberant personality radiated outwardly in her interactions and relationships with all who knew her. Emily was a symbol of strength during the most challenging of times for so many. She shared her light and creative, artistic genius through her work as a highly successful, self-employed Instagram Influencer."
She also kept an online blog, though she hadn't updated it since May.
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