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.

Agree library.

I wish the family well, however the choices they have made are proving to be extremely irresponsible. I will not be donating and I'm struggling to understand why the fund has not been paused. I am keen to see if the family stay true to their word and donate fully the donations raised.

So far GoFundMe have made about £6,000 from this appeal. I know they are a business and that they can charge what they like but it seems like a lot.

yep, that's why making donations via this type of website is foolish. 5-6% vanishes straight away. Never use them for charities.

GoFundMe have made a lot of money from this appeal. Take a look at what most appeals raise. Tiny amounts. Many get nothing, or under £100. The big appeals subsidise the small ones in what is a profit making company.

That's the business model.

Donations are still going up, and those dissenting voices on the page are being told that they are horrible human beings. I get that the family set up this page in a panic when they realised that they were woefully underinsured (the mother's care seems to have paid out on what was essentially a technicality - she got maternity cover because it wasn't about pregnancy) and that they didn't intentionally spin a newsworthy story of Insurer Screwed Me Over. But they are being paid now. They need to pause the page and they need to be very clear what will happen to the money.

It is simply not ok to allow it to accrue as a 'just in case' fund. Especially when a good chunk will disappear to GoFundMe.

I hadn't got a clue that's the type of cut the charity 'business' would get.

One of their family members etc needs to be honourable and take it down.

I think it's pretty out of order the comments I saw someone get from supposedly a family member. They quite politely asked for a refund after feeling mislead and received a tirade of abuse

Awful

Please understand that what happens to the fund should the insurance pay is not our primary concern at the moment as we know this question has been asked.

Is what's on the updated statement on the GFM page rn. So they managed to get the internet connection to update it, but not to pause it.

Indeed. I get that sorting out the existing fund would not be a priority. But it's still accruing...

The BBC article has a very clear statement from Stephen Howard, director of Infinity Insurance Services, said: "All future costs in relation to Ms Halls' medical needs abroad, as well as those of Evie will be covered by the policy and the family will be repatriated just as soon as Evie is well enough to travel without risk.". That seems very definitive. I wonder if there is more to it as the family are still saying that medical costs aren't being covered on their Facebook page and that they need to continue to raise money.

Ive copied and pasted the article below.

Ipswich parents 'to get help' with £184K birth cost
5 October 2015

A couple facing a £184,000 medical bill after their daughter was born prematurely in the Caribbean are to be helped by their insurer.
Evie was born 12 weeks early when her parents Sharon Halls and Daniel Compton, of Ipswich, were in the Dominican Republic for a wedding.
They set up an appeal online to pay for Ms Halls and Evie's medical costs.
Infinity Insurance Services said all costs and Evie's repatriation, when she is well enough, would be covered.
The parents, who remain with baby in Punta Cana, said they have already paid thousands of pounds for medical care while waiting for their insurers to respond.
Ms Halls was due to have a caesarean after contracting an infection in the Dominican Republic, but eventually gave birth to Evie on 28 September.
She weighed 2lbs 10oz (1.1kg).
'All costs covered'
Her parents claimed they had to pay $10,000 (£6,590) as a deposit and ongoing costs of $2,500 (£1,647) a day, which would amount to "a worst case scenario" of £184,000 before Evie is well enough to travel.
The matter in dispute had been Evie's birth at 28 weeks and six days, at 22:45 Dominican Republic time.
Ms Halls was covered for a normal pregnancy up to 29 weeks.
Stephen Howard, director of Infinity Insurance Services, said: "All future costs in relation to Ms Halls' medical needs abroad, as well as those of Evie will be covered by the policy and the family will be repatriated just as soon as Evie is well enough to travel without risk."
It is not yet known what the family intends to do with the £71,000 already donated to its fundraising page.

I would absolutely hate to have responsibility of that kind of amount of people's money to manage and donate. All kinds of moral implications and I would imagine certain legalities. Specifically when dealing with a country very different to my own.

I imagine many if you would feel the same.

But hey it's totting up now and I don't feel it's entirely ethical if I'm honest.

Yep people who want their donation back are getting abuse.

Abuse??? . And nobody's questioning the motives of the parents not actually closing the page down now that they won't actually be incurring any expenses? apart from their mortgage, of course

Seems the abusive ones have gone. There are a few more now enquiring why site still up.

I don't blame them

Some huge donations on there.

No i don't blame them! If the insurance is going to pay why not thank everyone and stop donations being able to be given??

There's a really gracious post from a guy who has donated he doesn't want his donation back but emplores them to donate the total amount to charity and asks them not to take out their expenses. It's a really good post.

I hope they donate in entirety ....obviously after huge chunk is cut out by GFM and post proof for all these kind donor's to see.

the family are still saying that medical costs aren't being covered on their Facebook page and that they need to continue to raise money

Can I ask when this was?

Also agree with those who've pointed out that if the family have time to post on the Gofundme site, they also have time to pause it

Oh,, and I understand the site charges 8% in total, not 5% ... it seems the extra 3% is some sort of admin charge

So, if they refunded all the money from those that request it, the charges are therefore effectively interest on a loan, which is what they needed in the end.

Easy.

They should pay the charges, though, not take them out of donations.

I had 2 cervical sutures and I was terrified of going into labour before the stitch was taken out and shredding my cervix. I barely went anywhere that wasn't within 5 miles of a hospital. Of course I feel sorry for them but they should never have put themselves in that position. I was told in no uncertain terms not to fly.
We all take risks all the time but there is a world of difference between a considered calculated risk and acting in a way that can put lives in danger.

Puzzled, 4 hrs ago there was an update saying they still needed money. In some comments timestamped at roughly 3-4 hrs ago but scattered through different threads, they were saying that the insurance had misrepresented what they will be paying to the press.

The details don't seem to be very clear, but from what I can gather the insurance company will reimburse the parents for Evie's birth & medical care, but they won't pay/subsidise her care should she move back to the private hospital (her birthplace). Whoever is running the FB page is saying that her current hospital is unsanitary and she needs to move back, ergo they need to keep asking for money.

Whoever is running it isn't a very clear communicator and I have baby brain, so pls don't take my word as gospel - I may have misunderstood - but I'm pretty sure I've got the gist of it right.

It just feels so wrong when the whole campaign is being run by a not-fully-informed UK counterpart.

Thanks for the clarification, Tneconni - not looking very good, is it??

FWIW I can understand why they'd need someone else to help with this, but still feel the Gofundme appeal should be at least suspended. Sadly it's beginning to seem that the money is becoming an end in itself

The Facebook page admin are reporting that the insurance company won't fund a move to a better hospital but also, I think, that Evie's parents don't won't to move her anyway. It's a very confusing. The posts are from the last few hours.

I've just screen shot the post in the picture.

Here is a post from the Facebook page admin in response to being asked about moving Evie to a private hospital

I've blanked the posters names on this post for privacy reasons (so they are less google'able?) . I have attached a screen shot

Poster 1
I dont understand..theres over 70k in the go fund me page..so use that to pay upfront for the private hospital for as many days as it will cover THEN if the insurance dont decide to cough up..move her back to the public one by which time she will be alot bigger and stronger and able to fight infection etc!! why can the army not step in and just fly her home with a specialist team on board!!! xx
4 · 3 hrs

Poster 2
Her mum doesn't want to put her through another move because the first move was stressful and Evie has lost weight to x
3 hrs

Poster 3
But the money would pay for around 50 days in the private hospital!! that could even be enough to get her strong enough to come home!! she would get alot stronget quicker!! if the insurance changed their mind..they would move her...
3 hrs

Little Evie's Medical Costs
Little Evie's Medical Costs I understand your point but to keep moving baby Evie is a massive risk to her life and if Sharon and Dan do not have enough for her continual care until Evie us full term which is December it could result in more moves
2 hrs

Their names haven't been blanked out in the screenshot. You might want to ask MNHQ to take down your post and repost once you've redone the shot.

Not an insurance expert, but do they usually pay for treatment in a private hospital?