Could someone explain holidays and insurance?

[Mississippilessly]

Hi all
I am off to France next week (travelling by ferry). I'll be 31+3 when we travel and 32+3 when we come back. My insurance says that I am covered for issues relating to maternity. The EHIC helpline also said as long as I hadn't gone abroad to give birth I would be covered. So what else do I need? My midwife wont supply a fit to travel letter. I've no complications.

My head hurts! Could someone please explain using small words?

What is it you don't understand? It sounds like you've checked that if you happen to have any medical issues relating to your pregnancy, then you are covered. So, that's all good and not complicated, right?

Take your maternity notes with you, investigate where the nearest maternity hospital is, but other than that it sounds like you’re good to go.

Have you checked that your insurance covers the baby in the event of a premature birth? Many won’t after 28 weeks and that is essential. Do the ferry company require a fit to travel letter or not?

As the PP said your EHIC will cover you if you do unfortunately give birth early with your travel insurance as back up. As you are low risk and going by ferry the other things e.g. the cost of repatriation you don't need to worry about.

Ferry conditions when I travelled wouldn't take you over 32 weeks - seems to differ by company though - have you checked with them?

Of course you need to cover repatriation. If you had a baby born at 32 weeks you’d either have to stay in France for at least a couple of months or you’d need insurance to fund the astronomical cost of repatriating you and the baby back to the UK. Please check to make sure baby is covered. EHIC will not cover this.

Ok so it seem that repatriation is the biggest issue. I will check with my insurers. This is what confuses me - like PP i figured if I had insurance, an EHIC and I was travelling reasonably before my due date it would be straightforward but apparently not.

Kitchenfloor P&O say 38 weeks now.

If your insurance says you're covered I don't understand why it's complicated?

@Ginmakesitok lots of insurers small print mean they don't cover the baby once born for repatriation, or they have such a large excess you still end up paying for it yourself.

But the only person who can find that out is the op?

Why would you have to pay to repatriate the baby? Or stay in France for a couple of months? Can you not just take the baby in a cat seat across home in the ferry? (Is it a passport issue?)

gin its the repatriation bit I hadn’tbunderstood. All i could gather was that people had mentioned (on MN) that standard insurnace/ EHIC wasn’t enough - i asked my midwife and phoned EHiC and they both said it was fine but they perhaps they don’t understand the issue of repatriating the baby.

Ravenhall will cover this as i have just found out but i still need a fit to fly letter which my midwfe won’t give me.

Celtic I don’t know! But i have been told by people on mumsnet that it would cost - lots!

We are just back from France, returning at nearly 35 weeks (airline cut off). I had a fit to fly note from my GP. We did need to visit a hospital while we were there, just waiting for the bill. it was a private hosp and so not covered by EHIC but our insurers will cover.

From my research - In terms of repatriation it can take a while as you need to get a UK passport, I believe from the British embassy in Paris. You’d also need to register the birth in France (baby would not have French citizenship though).

We researched local hospitals and were prepared to stay on if needed.

For the fit to fly my GP just wanted to see the most recent stats from my mw/consultant (bp, unrine etc). It cost £20, but I don’t know if that’s standard.

Thanks Levi, hope all is well now?
Can i ask who you got insurance with please?

Because if you have a 32 weeker you can’t just put them in a car seat and come home!! So you either stay in France until they are well enough to go home (likely a couple of months) - you’d have to cover all your expenses, hotel etc. Or you get repatriated via insurance company which would obviously require a mobile ICU, incubator etc, which costs tens of thousands of pounds.

Most doctors/midwives will not write a fit to travel letter as they have no way of predicting what will happen.

So you need to sort insurance for you and the baby and if you can’t get a fit to travel letter and the ferry company need one then you can’t travel. Not sure why people are finding this so hard to understand?

welshweasel because when i have sought advice from my mifwife and ehic they said it was all fine. Thats why its ‘hard to understand’.

Hey Mississippi, it was just my usual annual policy from Aviva. I rang to check and they said I’d be covered. I didn’t check repatriation but I think we’d have managed as had free accommodation in France so could stay on without worrying about that.

Well yes it’s fine if you don’t have the baby early (which chances are you won’t!) - but if you did, the last thing you’d want to be worrying about is hospital bills and being stuck in a different country for weeks on end. Very few insurance companies will cover the baby once you get past about 28 weeks so you need to check. If yours covers baby and it sounds like P&O are fine for you to travel then you’re all sorted!