Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

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

707 replies

Defenderwife · 04/10/2015 10:57

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.

OP posts:
Thelushinthepub · 04/10/2015 14:36

What a nightmare. I mean sadly for the hospital the best outcome would be to run up a bill as necessary then run like the wind. Awful that a hospital, as a private business, has any kind of control/ involvement in birth certs/ passports etc

Thelushinthepub · 04/10/2015 14:37

And I don't think many mortgage companies nowadays would let you stick £100k on the mortgage to pay medical bills Confused

LibrariesGaveUsP0wer · 04/10/2015 14:39

Definite - There's no quote function on MN. You just have to copy and paste the bit you want to quote. I've never worked out copy and paste on my phone so I can only do it on the computer Blush

imip · 04/10/2015 14:42

Gosh, I've had four cervical stitches (resulting in 4 full-term babies) following the stillbirth of my beautiful first dd - suspected cervical weakness. What on earth possessed them to travel during pregnancy???

sleepyelectricsheep · 04/10/2015 14:42

"milkmilklemonade12" yes, evil.

I read your post to DP just now, but not my response and evil is the word he used too.

AbbeyRoadCrossing · 04/10/2015 14:50

What happens if you don't have the cash depends. Most countries will treat you anyway then issue the bill, but some require proof of funds or insurance cover.

The embassy might be able to help but not always. I think many British assume the embassy can get them out of anything tbh. But they'd have to go to the embassy, which can involve travel depending how near you are and it can take a couple of weeks to get the baby's passport. So doing a runner isn't easy if the baby has no passport or fit to fly - for preemies that will typically be due date.
I was going to mention the couple in Hong Kong that a PP did

SoupDragon · 04/10/2015 14:51

Is it not also evil to risk your unborn child's life by travelling so far during a higher risk pregnancy with inadequate insurance?

Cerseirys · 04/10/2015 14:52

Then your partner probably needs to get to the library and read up a bit more about what true evil is.

I can understand why you said what you did milkmilklemonade12 and, as I said on another post, after the farce that the donations for baby Dax turned into, of course people are going to be sceptical of stories like this and be reluctant to donate.

ToTheGups · 04/10/2015 14:52

Such a sad situation for the baby but of course it is all of the parents making. No way should they have gone.

FishWithABicycle · 04/10/2015 14:53

So let's abolish all travel insurance companies, and instead those of us who travel agree that when someone experiences some accident, misadventure or unplanned early delivery of their baby, we all contribute a modest amount to their crowd funding so they can pay their bills.
We might want to put in place some kind of admin, paid for out of a percentage of the crowd funded money, which (a) makes sure people only claim reasonable actual expenses from the crowdfund pot rather than making a profit and (b) aren't taking advantage of the system by recklessly travelling against medical advice. And rather than just responding when these events happen we pay in advance so the pot of money is there when needed. But overall, with such a system we could all ensure that if we were unlucky when travelling we would be OK financially. We could call the system "ensurance" or something similar, perhaps?

SoupDragon · 04/10/2015 14:54

If you were born in the DR at 10:45 and someone asked you what time you were born would you say I was born at 10:45 or would you convert to the time in the UK?

I would say I was born iat 10:45 in the Dominican Republic. It's irrelevant anyway because the mother was still over 29 weeks pregnant. You would need to convert the assumed time of conception into DR Time too if you are bringing time zones into play.

UterusUterusGhali · 04/10/2015 14:54

Oh bugger off.

Evil? Ffs.

milkmilklemonade12 · 04/10/2015 14:54

Oh no, I'm shaking now you've told your DP on me sheep

Abbey The embassy could maybe provide temporary accommodation, but I doubt they help with medical bills or costs. At least, I didn't think they did. Someone on here may be more knowledgable.

And you can't just do a runner to the poster who suggested that Hmm seems a bit lacking!

Nonnainglese · 04/10/2015 14:55

I'm sure the Daily Wail will be interested, another highly irresponsible pair who now want others to fork out.
Harsh? Yes.
They chose to do this, they need to accept responsibility for the outcome.

PHANTOMnamechanger · 04/10/2015 14:55

The parents were very selfish and very foolish. They took a gamble and lost.This was not even a totally unforseen accidental hospitalisation. She was high risk pg! She should have been staying closer to the safety of home and not taking such risks IMHO.

Too many people in general think that 'insurance' is money wasted - but look at pp who paid £70 insurance whihc covered her & her family for £90K of expenses incurred!!

Wishin baby all the best but no, will not be donating. I hope their mistake stops others making similar mistakes.

LibrariesGaveUsP0wer · 04/10/2015 14:57

imip - Sorry to hear about your daughter Flowers.

MaryPoppinsPenguins · 04/10/2015 14:58

The press are clearly going to guilt the general public into helping these morons. And they will probably profit from it too.

I don't know who is more idiotic, the parents or the do gooders crowdfunding them.

Maryz · 04/10/2015 14:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

milkmilklemonade12 · 04/10/2015 15:00

cerseirys yes I remember the thread about that, was it around the beginning of this year? That was awful.

Parenting is about saying no to things that, whilst might really inconvenience or upset you; you have to for your DC. This would include not doing anything to risk your pregnancy/child.

I hope that poor baby is left with no lasting damage by her parent's irresponsibility.

Thelushinthepub · 04/10/2015 15:01

Milk I didn't suggest doing a runner. I said if I could have the treatment, be issued a bill and leave then I would "run like the wind" - IE return to the UK and not pay the £100k bill*. Not that I would do a midnight flit from the hospital with a premmie baby. Because that's not possible without killing the baby or being refused entry to the plane. Obviously.

*which is what usually happens when you have treatment abroad- they release you and Bill you.

**because I can't afford it

milkmilklemonade12 · 04/10/2015 15:03

Sorry thelush my mistake, I misread that Flowers

expatinscotland · 04/10/2015 15:04

They were stupid.

SansaryaAgain · 04/10/2015 15:05

Sorry but this couple are even more irresponsible than Dax's parents who at least didn't go against doctors advice when they took their trip. What came afterwards was different of course but this woman had a high risk pregnancy. Why would you risk going overseas with that without adequate insurance?

PHANTOMnamechanger · 04/10/2015 15:09

Can someone explain the 29 weeks thing. I get that they are quibbling over the boundary of the insurance policy - whether technically they were or were not over the 29 weeks due to time difference. But what if the baby had come a couple of days later, then they would DEFINITELY have been over the 29 weeks - ie. intentionally totally uninsured. Which makes me think this was all about them not wanting to waste money, and taking out the cheapest insurance they could?? They were due to be away later than 29 weeks so why were they not insured?

Hulababy · 04/10/2015 15:09

They didn't get adequate travel insurance and they made a decision to travel a long distance to a location with paid for health care which isn't the same standards as they'd have elsewhere, and with a high risk pregnancy.

I mean, why? Why would you do that?! Why put yourself and your unborn child at such risk?!

Having had to use travel insurance recently it is worth every penny to get the most comprehensive and full covering one you need. And mine was for only a minor reason - but even so.