to think the HIP grant should be paid to this women

[AuntiePickleBottom]

www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1324448/Health-bosses-refuse-pay-pregnancy-benefit-woman-premature-baby-born-early.html

sorry can't do clickable links.

Gergimama - given that we don't actually know how long the dad has been unemployed (and the DM is usually quite quick to point that sort of detail out when it comes to benefits.....) whose to say he didn't have a job when they planned//fell pregnant with the 4th child??

No idea. Fact is much as the DM loves to bleat about how unfair life is (the pension nonsense at the moment is the same) she isn't pregnant and isn't entitled to a HIP grant.

DM are usually the first to jump on the "oooooo look at this couple raking in all these benefits"

ooops - clicked post too soon

"raking in all these benefits and he/they have never worked a day in their lives"

She's not pregnant so don't see why she'd get a hip benefit. Surely she'd be getting child benefit & other benefits. Perhaps her dh will get a job?

Won't she also be getting SMP? That is more than the HIP grant in any event. I'm surprised she has the time to do an interview with the DM. When ds was born prem I hardly left his side although I was lucky that he was my first (and only) so didn't have other children to look after as well. I was happy to be there but also expected to be there by the nursing staff and there were times when I'd get home at midngight only to get a call and have to go back immediately.

yabu
she isn't pregnant

Would that not be the bloody least of your worries having lost a baby ?

Ooops I meant a premmie baby not a lost one

MollieO - I guess it depends when she started her cleaning job?

She would have to have started it 26 weeks before her 15th week of pregnancy to get SMP. Plus I think have to be earning over £97 a week to qualify as well?? (not sure on that last point).

That salary and tax credit together for 4 children seems quite low to me, so I'd hazard a guess he was working last tax year and that means their tax credits is lower.

Certainly I know if I were to start working 16hrs a week at minimum wage with 3 children (and no baby element) I would get more than £800 a month with my wage and tax credits

mamatomany the baby is still alive

mamatomany - I guess if you're struggling to find £11 a day to go and be with your premmie it would be a worry?

I wonder if the hospital can do something to help. I got free parking but I think there may have been a public transport grant if I hadn't had a car (can't remember). I know the parking permit saved me £10 a day.

yes it is a worry to parent with a premmie baby.

£11 per day= £77 per week ( the baby normally comes home around or after the due date) so approx 4 month = over £300

Molli - according to the article they get 50p too much in Tax Credits to get any help with the transport costs.

I do see the principle of the fact that she's know longer pregnant, but surely to go there must be something available to help people in that situation.

I guess there's a possibility as well if they're 50p over for the transport help that they may not have qualified for the Sure Start grant either? I can never remember how that works out, it's all about if you receive CTC at a higher rate than the family element or something.

yes 24 weeks is the age of viability, but what about babies born before this. My 2nd cousin was born 23+5 10 weeks ago. So her Mum and my cousin get nothing - no CB, CTC etc as she is in hospital still and when her mum maternity leave ends she may have only just got out of hospital if she's well enough.

I can understand why health in pregnancy grant isn't given but feel perhaps some other grant should be given to these parents - for example car park, travel pass etc disregarding income as the HIP grant is not means tested.

PP if the baby was born alive, the baby would have a birth cirtificate...so she can claim CB,CTC ect

yes they can but a child who's been in hospital longer than 12 weeks get these suspended. Any child that is whatever age they are whenever they are admitted. Same if they go abroad, are in young custody etc.

sorry youth custody - eg baby jail

blimey that's right isn't it! So would they even be able to get it in the first place if the baby hasn't even been out of hospital!

surley Child benifit would not be an issue as every child is entiled to this atm

it's suspended if they're in hospital longer than 12 weeks as MumBar says

it then truely sucks for a parent with a premmie baby :(

Had no idea about this.
Surely there must be hundreds (thousands?) of parents in the same situation :(

I never got my hip either as ds was born at 26 weeks and I have to say it felt like it was adding insult to injury. I take the point that I was no longer pregnant - that is precisely it! I had already been cheated out of three months of pregnancy and here was officialdom rubbing salt in the wound. Haha sucker not only has your world just fallen to pieces, but you don't even get the financial support that 'normal' mothers are entitled to.

As I was expressing milk for my child, and breastmilk is literally lifesaving for a baby that early, I actually thought money for healthy eating was possibly more crucial than if I'd stayed pregnant. I lost huge amounts of weight through the stress of it all, and watching the pennies in the hospital canteen was the last thing I needed.

As to whether this couple could or couldn't afford another child, that is completely beside the point. The point is that having a baby in intensive care is hugely costly in every sense, and yet you get even less financial assistance than if they'd been born on time! Hardly fair.