UK mum separated by force from newborn in Spain. AIBU to be shocked this is taking so long to resolve?

[wigglylines]

Poor woman, poor baby too. I can't imagine what she's going through.

Why would they drag it out so long? How long does it take to get a DNA test FFS?

Story here www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/03/british-woman-says-she-was-separated-from-newborn-daughter-in-spain

[Petition link removed by MNHQ as we don't allow them in AIBU or anywhere other than our Petitions topic]

It sounds like their must be a lot more to the story than what is in the article.

Also why did she not go to the hospital until the day after she had given birth?

Very scary given the history of "los ninos robados" in Spain where hundreds of thousands of Spanish children were stolen from their parents (told the baby was a stillbirth/died shortly after and were shown a frozen corpse) and farmed out to international adoption agencies from the 1950s to at least the late 80s, with the collusion of the Church and medical staff who received thousands of dollars for them. Like the mum in thus case, many came from marginalized groups in Spain but lots were ordinary poor Spaniards too ...especially if they had already had a couple of children.

If she was 38 weeks pregnant, she must have intended or at least thought about giving birth in Spain. She couldn't fly back to Britain at 38 weeks pregnant, and it would be a long drive / ferry / Chunnel journey.

It's very odd; why hadn't she let her mother's doctor or someone know she'd be giving birth in Spain? Why not call an ambulance? Even if there was no time to call an ambulance before the birth, most people would want medical assistance with clamping / cutting the cord, etc.

Unless she is a midwife or her mother is, I don't get how they were happy clamping the cord and so on? Why didn't they call an ambulance when they realised they weren't going to make it to hospital? Why was she travelling in another country when she was so close to her due date? Why didn't she think the baby would need a check up until he next day?

There may well be reasonable explanations for all of the above, but I really can see why the hospital thought there was something very weird about the whole thing.

Nah there's more to it than what's written

Maybe it happened really quickly. My cousin's baby was delivered at home by her husband before the ambulance could get there. Maybe her mum encouraged her to stay home. Maybe she has a fear of hospitals. Who knows?

But she's breastfeeding the baby, and getting the press involved.

Sounds awfully like she's the mother to me.

Yes it's odd. People do odd things.

My AIBU was asking about the length of time it's taking for the Spanish hospital to get a DNA test done. Surely it's in everyone's best interests, especially the baby's to get this resolved ASAP.

mimishimmi that's horrific.

Lots of babies are born at home before the ambulance arrives, but at least the ambulance is on its way, and the mother and baby can be attended to when the ambulance gets there.

But she and her mother didn't call for an ambulance, or any form of medical assistance, from what the story says.

I don't understand it.

It depends how far out of Malaga they were too. Lots of the towns in the region are quite isolated, roads are poor etc and the emergency services available are not great. It's normal for women to give birth at home in those circumstances.

If they hadn't planned a home birth it would be normal to go to hospital straight after the birth. How long has she been in spain? What is the latest you can fly when pregnant? All a bit odd

nancy75 it's possible to travel to Spain without flying.

Another article says she gave birth in just half an hour. She had a toddler DD too.

Second births can be very quick indeed!

She did go to the hospital with the baby just not straight away.

I can imagine that if I gave birth at home, everything seemed fine, baby was feeding well, my mum was there and encouraging me to get some rest perhaps, I might leave it till the next day to go to hospital.

Women have been giving birth at home for most of history.

The hospital accept she has given birth, they are questioning that she gave birth to this baby.

Now what do you think is more likely, pregnant baby gives birth, but swaps her baby with another baby a few days older than her own and turns up at hospital a day later. Hospital identify baby as too old, but she goes to consulate and the press (why would she do that if she was involved on some bizarre baby swapping crime).

Or pregnant woman gives birth, doesn't go to hospital immediately. Hospital go batshit, and mistakenly decide baby is not hers and make an almighty fuck up in separating a new mother from her baby.

The second one sounds a whole lot more likely to me.

Please people, sign the petition.

*pregnant mother not pregnant baby!

According to the Guardian, she arrived in Spain on 1 June, when she was 36 weeks pregnant, and planned to get her brother to drive her back to London on 17 June, when she'd have been 38 + weeks pregnant. 38+ weeks pregnant seems very late to be planning to drive from Malaga to London. She must have realised there was a good chance the baby was going to be born before she got back.

Unless her first child was very late and she assumed her second would be too?

It sounds to me as though she is the mother. But I wonder if the problem isn't the DNA, but Social Services concerns?

Yes it was late to be travelling.

My mate returned from the states at 36 weeks pregnant. I thought that was ray to leave it so late, but people do odd things.

The issue here is the reaction of the hospital.

Do you really think it's more likely that she's swapped her baby for another than that the hospital have messed up big time?

Why won't they tell her when she can get the results of the DNA test?

*crazy not ray!

Or maybe the problem is institutional racism and the hospital being unwilling to back down now they've made this "diagnosis".

I live in Spain and gave birth in Spain. Spanish hospitals are second to none and the care is outstanding. Much, much better than the UK. Every test under the sun is done whether you need it or not, they are incredibly thorough.

I think something is afoot here for them to be this suspicious.

There is no 'institutional racism' as far as I am aware, in either Madrid, Valencia or Malaga, I have been in each of these hospitals, or my family have been. I am not Spanish.

She says she brought her maternity notes to the hospital but they have been confiscated and even the placenta to prove she was the mum but it was destroyed.

Sorry, I don't believe it for one moment.
Just my opinion as an English woman who has given birth here to a Spanish daughter.

There is no way, in Malaga, of all places (which has no Spanish people in it!) that there is no smoke without fire here.

This is from the Mail article

"Miss Cottle said she feared the hospital acted in the way it did because of her race. She said: ‘They do have a problem with immigration (in Spain) and you have the problem of migrants trying to have babies here.’

She said staff had talked about it openly in front of her. ‘I have heard it all: people have said maybe I’m from Senegal or from Kenya, irrespective of my British passport.’"

OK, Daily Mail article.

Must be true.

I really can't express enough how professional hospitals and doctors are here. It is an eye opener. There is no way they would do this Really.