AIBU to think its not acceptable for a homeless woman to have to give birth on the street.

[Thelnebriati]

Homeless woman gives birth to premature twins on a cold street outside Cambridge University college
www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/cambridge-news/homeless-woman-birth-premature-twins-17471458

Although tbf I have issues with the term 'developing country' also even though it is very widely used.

Maybe do a bit of reading and/or critical thinking.

Oh, the irony! . I'm from a '3rd world country'. Nah, not offended. I don't do generalisations, part of critical thinking is owning one's opinion.

I can't think why she would have to give birth in the street. Would they have turned her away from hospital?

Surely you are not that hard of thinking

It is considered offensive to label developing countries as '3rd world'.

By whom? You?

No the PP is correct. I left high-school in 2000 and even then it was very much developed and developing countries not 1st World and 3rd World. As 3rd class implies less worthy etc

Koshkat

The phrase 'global south' is now the perceived appropriate way to refer to third world/developing countries/emerging states etc. At least it is in the sector I work in.

I have to google the correct phrase at least every three months to keep up!

It must have been horrible for her. But we don't know the full story. Homelessness isn't an easy fix or a simple issue (in my experience working with the homeless). She will now be put up in emergency accommodation by her local council, I wonder if she had approached them for help while pregnant. Hope the little babies are doing as well as can be.

'The Conservative party are ultimately far more helpful in the long run to the poor than labour, so I’m fine with my choice.'

FINALLY someone who owns their politics and views.
The rest of you should take note.

IF you don't understand the basic tenets of right wing politics ie people should help themselves, helping others is actively detrimental to them as it discourages then from helping themselves, low tax, small state...

Then really you should do a bit of reading or something. This is really basic political ideology stuff, and is not a secret!

YABU because you are misrepresenting what happened. She went into premature labour, was assisted by members of the public who called an ambulance which came but not before the babies. She WAS taken to hospital for treatment.
This happens to women who are not homeless. It is just a lottery as to whether you can get to a hospital in time or not.

Thank you Jiggerie - that's interesting.

YABU because you're fibbing - she gave birth in town because the labour was fast, not because she was homeless. They're in hospital now.

DB was born in a taxi for same reason, rapid labour.

If she had realised and called 999 then she would have been taken straight to addenbrookes, who give excellent care. If she couldn’t call herself for some reason, there are many people in Cambridge at night, and the college Porters lodges are manned 24/7.

There are multiple homelessness outreach outfits (jimmys, winter comfort and cyrenians to name a few).

Further, if she couldn’t get accommodation in the area, which I doubt, because of council failures, the above outfits would help sort it out as well as shelter, crisis, etc.

I expect there is a hell of a lot more to her story, and it’s not all that simple. She may have rejected housing. She may have reasons she did not engage with the help available. It is very very unlikely that she tried to seek help and care and was turned away.

YANBU it is just so sad and worrying

I'm not sure why some posters are ok with pregnant women sleeping rough in winter as long as someone calls an ambulance when they go into labour!

Still, if that's the way people feel then do be it.

For the people of the right, if it turns out that she is not eligible for NHS care, and she obviously has no money, what penalty would you levy against her for the debt?

Some people are on the streets through their own actions.

No, they're not. Some people are on the streets because the safety net that should kick in when they need it (i.e the correct MH care, welfare, medical care) either is not there or is not adequate. Let's not kid ourselves into thinking some people want to live on the streets in the winter or deserve to be in the situation they are in.

I called 999 for someone threatening to take their own life a few nights ago. They're still in their home with family checking in on them every few hours because the crisis team could not find them a bed. That is not acceptable in one of the wealthiest countries in the world and to say it is not the fault of the current government is insulting to all of those who've lost their lives due to austerity.

Homelessness has risen in Cambridge - but at least they have access to homelessness services ( not enough of them though!) In rural Fenland it's worse - i've started to see people sleeping in copses in the Fen, and along the rail line in Ely. Their nearest "free" bed for the night is over 20 miles away in either Wisbech or Cambridge. I have children in my class who are homeless or who have a separated parent who sleeps rough.

I haven't seen things this bad in 20 years. But neither have I seen such callous attitudes - a plea to donate sleeping bags to the shelter nearest to me on a local social media page brought such vitriol that I was ashamed to live here.

The fact is that Cambridge is a wealthy pocket in a sea of deprivation. Parts of Cambridge suffer enormously. Poverty is rife but the largely wealthy who live city centre and get to the uni just don't see it. The part of rural fen I work in is higher on the deprivation index than Hackney, and gets a far lower per head spend per pupil than urban areas. I see more suffering here and less hope to get out than I did in 20 years teaching in East London.

And yet Stephen Barclay got his safe seat again. It's like the whole area is a dog returning to it's owner to be beaten.

Fraggling you just sound silly now. Nowhere has anyone said that they are ok with a pregnant woman sleeping rough FGS.

Lots of people have no issue with what happened as she got help when in labour. You can read their posts upthread

Of course it's not okay for anyone to give birth on the street, but I'm pretty sure there's more to this story.

I think the severe weather protocol is in place at the moment, so she could have got a bed overnight somewhere in Cambridge had she accessed one of the homeless charities or healthcare. Cambridge also has quite a lot of support charities for the homeless, and I have no doubt that those would have supported her with appropriate support while she was pregnant.

The reasons she didn't access the available services might give some back ground to the story - it's likely to be multifaceted and far more complex than the news paper suggests.

I hope she gets the help she needs and her babies are healthy.

Would they have turned her away from hospital?

People have to prove they are entitled to NHS care to receive it. Emergency services and antenatal care are exempt from this, however some trusts often illegally turn away people not entitled to care or make it so unpleasant with demands for payment that they opt not to. Homeless or women with insecure housing who cannot prove they are British and entitled to help from the council are often threatened with removal of their children as the LA has a legal obligation to house the children but not the mother if she has no recourse to public funds.

Because proof that one is British or has recourse to public funds requires paperwork that a homeless person may not have on them or access to (not having an address doesn't help either)- it is easy for them to fall further into this trap even when they are perfectly entitled to help.

Agree with @koshkat you don't know the circumstances at all. You don't know if the woman has tried to seek help. Perhaps she hasn't. Perhaps she's mentally ill, a drug user-and this is why she's homeless and not seeking help- you just don't know.

Or perhaps she's tried to get help and shelter and been turned away? Who knows?

If course it's awful that she should end up on the streets whatever.

However, I think the second scenario is less likely.

Both political decisions which can make it difficult for citizens to get help when they need it most

Often people who are homeless have other issues going on. Mental health problems, learning difficulties ,addiction issues etc. It's not as simple as just having a roof over their heads. This woman may not have been registered, hell, she may not have known she was pregnant.

Personally I don't think there should be anyone on the street. It's hideous. And painfully easy to sort out with the right sort of agencies and a duck ton of money invested in helping these people........but as long as we keep othering them and viewing them as less than human things won't ever change.

With no reason, a decision that it's more likely she's a mentally ill drug user.

Well ok.

Poster upthread implied she might be a violent domestic abuser as well.

This thread is great tbh to understand mindset and where we are going, fast.

Expect more of the same.