to think you don't go on holiday whilst having a high risk pregnancy and without adequate insurance

[Defenderwife]

Woman gives birth after food poisoning whilst on holiday in the Dominic Republic.

She had a cervical cerclage so knew she had a high risk pregnancy.

Her insurance didn't cover her entire pregnancy.

They are now stranded with a premature baby in a foreign country with no financial help and are relying on donations and GoFundMe.

I have made a donation but inside I feel almost angry. Why on earth have they let themselves be in this situation? That poor poor child.

[Wolpertinger]

I used to work in a hospital at a UK seaside resort popular with the elderly.

Every week we would admit a holiday maker far from home with no insurance.

And without fail they would be surprised that the NHS was not going to pay for their relative's extra hotel bills, for them to travel back to wherever they came from when they were finally discharged etc etc.

So sadly it doesn't surprise me that this couple did this and then are surprised that care costs money and insurance companies aren't cute and cuddly. We take healthcare for granted in this country.

[LilacSpunkMonkey]

Someone else has started a fund-raising thread on this.

I won't be donating.

[specialsubject]

I don't see how they could have thought they were fully covered, with a calendar at hand.

very sad, very sorry - but an entirely avoidable risk.

[Floggingmolly]

Another one . Oh dear, we've fucked up. Never mind, send an open begging letter on the Internet and watch the dosh roll in.

[LibrariesGaveUsP0wer]

Yes. Exactly. Plus any medical professional would presumably have said travel was risky and also to fully check the details of cover (I suspect that they weren't covered at all given the complications, regardless of dates ). Why on earth would you travel that far without speaking to your doctor/mw

[NerrSnerr]

If you're going to take a risk with your own life by not having sufficient insurance you're an idiot but taking a risk with you're unborn child's life is terrible. Not knowing you're uninsured is no excuse. Not knowing the hospitals are shitty is no excuse. They have put their child at risk because they travelled with a risky pregnancy- that is a really selfish thing to do.

[Farahilda]

//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/in_the_news/a2480203-Fundraising-for-premature-baby-Evie-stranded-in-Dominican-Republic?msgid=56894195#56894195

I posted wondering about the timelines in all this. Does anyone know how long she was in the first hospital? Because it's not clear that the last days of the trip and the entire journey home would have been covered on an under-29 week policy.

Also, another poster has asked if pregnancy with cerclage was covered anyway, as she's seen verbiage which appeared to say it was 29 weeks for a normal pregnancy.

I hope they do secure the right treatment for their new baby.

(And that those reading about this take from it the lesson that you should never skimp on travel insurance).

[Defenderwife]

*Libraries
*
That's what I thought, what mw or consultant would advise them to travel? Also when telling friends and family they were going, would someone not advise them to think again?

I feel very sorry for them and imagined they feel like utter crap.

[definiteissues]

I saw this earlier and it made me angry.
The insurance company are getting the flack for it but it isn't their fault that the couple didn't have adequate cover.

Regardless of whether people think the time difference matters (I personally do think it matters, she was 29 weeks, if she had been on holiday in a different country that didn't have a time difference then she wouldn't have thought there was a case for her insurance) they weren't covered for the rest of the holiday anyway.
This is the risk you take when you decide to live on the edge and travel without proper insurance.

I really hope that the baby does not continue to suffer for her parents mistakes.

[Eminybob]

I would like to think that the insurers will back down if this story gets enough press. It would certainly be in their best interest, publicity wise. It's on a technicality really isn't it.

[SuburbanRhonda]

eminy

On a technicality?

Surely she is 29 weeks pregnant wherever in the world she is? Moving to a different time zone doesn't make you less pregnant than you were before you left home.

[LunchpackOfNotreDame]

Speaking from bitter experience you must must must get insurance before you travel.

My dc managed to break their ankle on holiday once. I thought DH had arranged insurance he thought I had turns out neither of us had! Luckily it was in Europe and we had EHIC cards otherwise we'd have been royally fucked. Lesson learned!

[AuntieStella]

"It's on a technicality really isn't it."

If it's time difference only, yes.

But if it's also on 'normal' PG grounds (and time difference was a minor reason, being quoted slightly out of context) then it's quite different.

None of the articles I've seen state whether the stitch was declared to the insurers.

[Samcro]

any pregnancy can become risky, even a normal one can turn bad. so any sensible person would try to eliminate any extra risk.
they didn't.
I won't be donating

[LibrariesGaveUsP0wer]

I suspect the 'technicality' of the time difference is what they've decided to sell to the public for their crowd funding.

Given their woeful attention to the detail of their coverage, I suspect it's more likely that a complicated pregnancy simply wasn't covered at all.

As I said, I feel very sorry for them and especially for their baby, but I wouldn't donate.

I also think it is incredibly, incredibly stupid to voluntarily travel so far from home with a complicated pregnancy. Mine were all straightforward but I'd have been nervous travelling that far. Why on earth you would choose to in a complicated pregnancy I have no idea. Even if you are fully insured, you are still thousands of miles from home in an unfamiliar healthcare system with often a language barrier.

[Wolpertinger]

From experience of completing the medical section of people's insurance claim forms a max of 50% have properly declared pre-existing conditions. And I'm being generous here.

So wouldn't surprise me at all if she hadn't mentioned the circlage.

Learning points: Healthcare in other countries may not be of the same standard as you are used to in the UK, especially if you choose to visit a developing country. Other countries charge for healthcare- get travel insurance. And finally insurance companies are businesses - they will look for any loophole they can not to pay out. Bad publicity is not a concern for them, losing money is.

[katienana]

I think it's awful that the babies are in that public hospital with poor facilities and sanitation and their parents have no choice but to put them there. I hope Evie is able to come home and get proper care and that there is some fundraising to support the babies left behind.

[Taylor22]

Where does it say her pregnancy was already complicated?

What a bunch of idiots. So she's blaming the insurance company for the loop hole but she would've been passed the 29 weeks by the end of the holiday?
It's terrifying that these people can reproduce the next generation.

[Witchend]

Call me skeptical but I can see people seeing this sort of thing and going "well it doesn't matter about being insured, in fact it's better as we can get more money by crowd funding... And we get famous too"

And yes, I do believe people will risk their child's life in doing so. Not because they envision their child actually dying due to their mistake, but because they don't actually think of that really happening because that part is something that happens to others.

[Vixxfacee]

Distant and backwards country? Nice.