I have no words - woman now stranded after wanting to give birth in St Lucia (on the beach...)

[Nanny0gg]

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/uk-world-news/new-mum-stranded-after-being-8669669

What on earth were they thinking??

I don't know about a DNA test. These twats should had to have taken an IQ test.

They'd fail miserably.

They flew when she was 35 weeks pregnant? I thought third trimester women weren't allowed to fly. They should just settle in and wait out hurricane season. Only another 4 months.

Giving birth on the beach - all that sand getting into everything!

Baby Dax, yes!!

His parents were absolute scam artists.

This blows my mind when I have met people I’ve actually been genuinely stranded on the other side of the world and the British consulate’s response was oh well, I’m sure you’ll be fine. We don’t deal with that kind of thing..

Anyone else just thinking of all that sand going up the baby chute? 😅

How has it taken them over 3 months to get a DNA test?

But also, the standard of writing in that article is abysmal.

The word for people with British Nationality is Britons.
Britain is the name of the nation state.

Utterly bonkers. They aren’t being held hostage. Mum and Dad could be back in Uk. They certainly both don’t need to stay.
If things had gone wrong and baby or mum had needed treatment then no doubt there would be crowdfunding appeal.
Their poor older child just abandoned.

@Thisismyartform - I don’t think this is just for the British consulates - no country would put themselves in a position where they are legally obliged to help their own citizens abroad! Of course they have a vested interest in offering assistance and advice but private citizens of any country need to be prepared to help themselves as far as possible when travelling. Consular help is and should only be a last resort. Basically what that is saying is don’t turn up with a crisis of your own making and insist they HAVE to help you. They don’t!

AFAIK the Consulate/Embassy are not there to organise you flights or deal with expenses you have incurred with your own stupidity. They won't get you out of jail either, or take "sides" if you are having an argument with the authorities. They will also very reasonably expect you to have travel insurance which would take care of many events overseas.

They are there to advise on paperwork like getting this baby a passport and this is what they are doing by ordering the DNA test. Once that's through, they will organise the passport. They will also do things like visiting Brits locked up in an overseas prison to make sure they are being treated humanely, or advise on things like English speaking lawyers or doctors.

So many people think the Embassy or Consulate is there as some sort of 24 hour 7 day a week problem solving service, sort of a cross between MoneySaving Expert and Rip off Britain, free of charge of course.

This is a setup for a Baby Dax style scam surely? If not, they are complete dipshits. She could have gone to Cornwall or Pembrokshire and given birth on a much nicer beach.

why were they in a boat? Why didnt they just fly to St Lucia?

All sounds a bit sus.

Absolutely. I think the authorities were right to get a dna test. And how did she fly at 35 weeks, unless she was tiny and they lied.

Also why on earth did they not just fly direct to St Lucia if that was genuinely their intended destination? Or get a plane from A to B to C? Why get a boat? It doesn't make sense.

Whatever the actual story is for this pair of numpties, I hope the child trafficking authorities are all over this. Because it’s giving dodgy surrogacy or baby traffickers a perfect cover if this pair get waived through without some seriously tough checks.

They’ve named the baby Louisa. I’m surprised at how normal the name is actually.

I'm a little confused as to why the beleaguered British tax payer should be expected to fork out for some people's stupidity

Marine bacteria is different to land bacteria, one of my patients nearly lost a limb cutting his foot abroad and then getting an infection that we didn’t have the antibiotics for.

Hes very lucky it’s only a passport and dna test he needs and not two body bags.

Play stupid games win stupid prizes.

Pair of fuckwits

Yes at the boat. Border Control might be checking that pram quite carefully on the way back. or do they even have any baby stuff? I they still living on the boat?

Poor 8y old.

I think their big mistake was throwing the placenta overboard* for the sharks….. they should have put it in a Tupperware box for when they eventually showed up at the hospital and said “oh look, we appear to have given birth, any chance of a birth certificate and a bed for the night”. Forward planning, works every time. I would also have bought open return plane tickets, and renewed my child’s passport in time, but that’s just me.

• I might have made this bit up….. the placenta bit. Did Clive tie off the cord with a handy bit of ships rope ? It is details like this that make the story more humane, not over dramatic statements about not being fed and being kept prisoners.

Irresponsible and totally ignorant when it comes to the experiences of many women in childbirth clearly. Poor kids…

It's long been known by people who are career expats that in the case of the proverbial hitting the fan when you're abroad, you cannot rely on the British Embassy/Consulate/FCO. They're not there to get idiots out of the ramifications of their stupid decisions. They'll help coordinate if a body needs repatriation, but that's the most you can expect. Everything else is a discretionary bonus.

Rodney Bay is not exactly the kind of paradise beach most would imagine it is. It’s the only place my kids said they would not like to go back to on holiday - nightclubs, buckets of rum punch, water parks, jet skis. The sand is imported as beaches in St Lucia are naturally rocky and dark grey (is extinct volcanic island - the Pitons are famously volcanic plugs.)

I fly a lot to St Lucia for work, and would not put it anywhere in my list of top 100 places to have a baby. A work colleague of mine was stuck in a hospital there for weeks a couple of years back, and it was not a happy experience for him. I cannot begin to understand the stupidity of a couple who have chosen to go to the Caribbean to give birth on a beach and left their other child behind.

I have to say I am a tad disappointed at this news.