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.

cleaty- they could try but generally hospitals (or any debtor) doesn't have the right to stop you leaving the country. Either the countries themselves have rules about issuing a passport etc (although why they should debt collect for a private organisation God only knows) or they refuse treatment until payments are up to date. And I'm sure it happens but I'm massively struggling with the idea of a premature baby having its life saving equipment turned off because the parents can't find astronomical amounts of cash immediately.

To be honest given that she was at known high risk of premature birth and had a cervical suture in situ, they're very lucky the baby wasn't born on one of the long haul flights the chose to take.

It's bloody shit for them and a costly mistake but no, the insurance company should not pay out and no, it shouldn't be crowdfunded.

Whatever foolish things the parents may have done wrong as if we aren't all guilty occasionally , there's an innocent & very vulnerable little baby in middle of this. I wish them the best & hope they come home soon.

Are the insurance company the ones who are being thick about the time difference?

But Infinity Insurance Solutions, who provided Ms Halls with travel insurance, said it has not decided whether it will cover the costs because the time difference meant when she gave birth she was over the 29-week mark, which was when the cover stopped being valid.

The DR is 5 hours ahead so on UK time she would have been under the 29 weeks if the time difference is enough to push her over the limit wouldn't she?

No soup dragon. When it is 3.30pm in UK it is 10.30 am in the DR.

Either way, she was still 29 weeks. A time difference doesn't make you younger or older

Thelushinthepub - People in other countries get denied medical treatment all the time because they can't afford it.

I think I'm getting my ahead and behind mixed up :)

Yes, obviously. Doesnt make it any less hideous and I can't say id given much thought to doctors who end the life of a premature baby because it's parents don't have the money.

The DR is 5 hours ahead

The DR is currently 5 hours behind, what with being in central America (they run on UTC-4, without daylight saving as they are equatorial, so are currently BST-5 as we are UTC+1). So at 0001 in London on the day the policy lapsed, it was 1901, 7pm, there.

This man was prevented from leaving Cyprus until his insurance company paid his hospital bills.

www.kentonline.co.uk/medway/news/seriously-ill-man-banned-from-41847/

The DR is currently 5 hours behind, what with being in central America ...

Did you mean that to sound quite so arsey?

These are the most common reasons for travel insurance claims to be declined.

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insurance/10848441/Ten-reasons-why-your-travel-insurance-wont-pay-out.html

I would guess they are going on the actual duration of the pregnancy, rather than the date, SoupDragon - ie. if she was x number of weeks pregnant when she crossed the international dateline, she would still be the. Same number of weeks pregnant on the other side - the baby wouldn't have got a day smaller, and she wouldn't have become a day further from her due date.

So, if, at the point where she gave birth, she had been gestating for 29 weeks, she was't covered by her insurance, but if she had only been gestating for 28 weeks and 6 days, she would be.

If her travel insurance didn't cover her for the whole of her holiday (because she went over the 29 week mark however you determine it), that was a very stupid gamble for her to take with her own health and that of the baby.

I am sorry that she and the baby are in this scary and risky position, but she and her dh should take responsibility for what they have done, that has contributed to this.

Did you mean that to sound quite so arsey?

No. Sorry.

Can't believe how the mum has said she "despises" the private hospital because they insisted she pay for the private treatment. How on earth do they think a private hospital normally does business?

Quite

SDTG - you have hit the nail on the head for why I find these stories so frustrating. It is the total lack of personal responsibility.

She could have said:

"I was astonishingly naïve and didn't realise I needed special insurance"

or "I was ridiculously stupid to chance it".

But instead it's all "Poor me, the mean insurer did this to me" , when apparently she was only a few hours away from that being a total non issue because she was going to be uninsured at the end of the holiday anyway.

I think some people assume that because they are British, somehow they will magically looked after. That is not the case. Most countries have some kind of public hospital, that you will be transferred to. But in some countries, that hospital will be very basic.

Because of course having a white British girl stay in a public Dominican hospital is an aberration not to be borne. The outrage!

But all those little brown Dominican babies can go f*ck themselves.

It would be very interesting to find out how many people who book holidays in the Dominican Republic could find it on a map.

It is an extremely distressing situation and I do feel for them all and, yes there is a very tiny vulnerable baby at the centre of it all.

However, whatever the ins and outs of the timing issue, what is not in doubt is that this couple chose to go to on a long-haul holiday to a developing country knowing they would not be covered if the baby was born in the final 3 (or whatever) days of that holiday. I cannot understand why anyone would do that - they gambled and lost and I am not prepared to pay for their stupidity!

Libraries exactly. There's never an admission, never a 'yep, hands up I ballsed this up totally'. And that's what fucks me off.

Seriously, how can you even think of taking such a gamble?

Their whole attitude smacks of entitlement 'give me free care, give me what I'm entitled to!'

They knew they needed insurance because they bought a policy; so for anyone to suggest they didn't know what they were doing is laughable. They knew they needed insurance, they knew the pregnancy was high risk due to the cervical stitch in place, they ignored ignored her condition and they clearly ignored the need for proper insurance; because they got a policy, just not one that covered their needs or pre existing conditions. That means they were either too cheap, or too stupid to account for their baby's needs and that is unforgivable.

Very stupid comment from me, and I would like someone who knows more to explain it to me but why didn't they have one of those EHIC cards you take on holiday to cover you?

Or does that only work in Europe?

Just in Europe cercei