willoween

Hello, I am desperately seeking help and advice for my family. My partner and I moved out here only a couple of months ago, I was pregnant and we decided to raise our new family here in Spain thinking it would be a better quality of life for us all but this dream has turned into the biggest nightmare I could ever imagine, we are in so much trouble we are on the verge of nervous breakdowns.

I gave birth in a Spanish hospital in the Costa Blanca on 9/4/12 just over a week ago, I took out Sanitas health cover prior to the birth but as I was already pregnant Sanitas would not cover the birth, they said I was covered for any problems leading up to and any problems following the birth but not the birth itself so I had to go into the local hospital.

When I took out the policy I read that my newborn would be automatically covered from birth but what I didn't read was the small print which stated you had to have the plan for a year for that to apply.

After a couple of days in the hospital we were ready to be discharged home and my baby was having the final checks with the Dr when they said there was a problem, I was asking what the problem was but the nurses were just shrugging at me, a Dr came in a while later and told me that my baby possibly had a blood infection and was being taken to neonatal special care unit. Of course I was most upset and frightened, then they said that I was to go home and leave the baby in the hospital. I was really unhappy leaving my baby there, my experience there already had not been great and I was breastfeeding and simply didn't want to be apart from her.

Basically to cut a long story short I wanted to move the baby to a Sanitas hospital were there would be English speaking staff available and were I would be able to stay with her. I was told at the hospital to go home and phone Sanitas to make arrangements for this which I did. Sanitas told me to get the hospital to ring so I went back with the information.

The pediatric secetary spoke some broken English but was the best English speaker available at the time, he called Sanitas where he was informed there was a problem with cover for transport to another hospital. We talked about a solution and he suggested that I just discharge her and take her to the hospital of my choice, so I discharged her and came home. Upon arriving home there was an answerphone message from Sanitas informing me that the baby was not covered as the policy was not a year old, I had already brought the baby home and did not want to take her back. I had several converations with Sanitas that day and several emails were also exchanged as we tried to get her covered quickly. I said that I did not mind paying for the babies treatment, Sanitas said that I would be covered to stay with the baby on my policy but may have to pay for her treatment which I was happy to do. I tried to get us into Torriejva and Elche hospitals but neither had pediatric doctors available in the evening and overnight, I was told to take her in the following day.

That night the La Guardia Civil turned up at my home and said I had to take the baby back to hospital and that I shouldn't have discharged her. I explained the situation, they had a lengthy conversation with Sanitas and tried to arrange a private hospital for us, in the end we had to go back to the hospital we had been in previously, I was not happy but they said it was important that I took her so I did.

A coupld of days later a man and a woman approached me and said to go with them downstairs in the hospital, they turned out to be social workers. There was some bad translator on a phone translating for the social worker asking me loads of questions about what had happened I tried to explain everything. In the end the social workers handed me a document in Spanish and sent me on my way. It turns out the document was explaining that the social services were taking custody of my baby.

Since then we have tried so hard to get everything ironed out but the situation seems to be getting worse by the day. They have got us running around from town to town getting paper work and making various appointments for different things, we don't have a car and are paying a lot of money for taxis, we have had to pay for a translator which isn't cheap and basically with no end to this in sight we are not going to be able to afford to keep this up, they want to take the baby to a place in Alicante when she leaves hospital on Friday and we are desperate to resolve this before then.

On top of all this the La Guardia Civil turned up at our home again today, they didn't have anyone who spoke English with them and have said we need to go to the station tomorrow, we don't know which station we need to be at or where it is or why they want to see us, we tried to get them to write things down but they couldn't or wouldn't. I was asking what the problem is, one of them said there was no problem but there must be a problem for them to be at our home and asking us to go in, they said we are to take a translator, the social services want us to take a translator to their appointments also and between the taxi fares and translator fees we have spend hundreds of euros already this week and cannot afford to keep going.

Please if anyone knows how we can resolve this nightmare, any advice, any assistance please help us if you can.

Many thanks

Lospacoshombre

You have my every sympathy, sometimes problems in Spain seem insurmountable, but I always find they end well!

My advice would be to speak to the consulate, I am sure they would be sympathetic, who wouldnt


regards and best wishes

Al

YMF

Alicante Consulate Tel: 902 109 356
Out of office hours telephone number 902 109 356 provides details on how to proceed in case of an emergency and to contact a duty officer if needed.

Alicante Consulate info

They also have a healthcare team who may be able to give you some help.

Good Luck

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.


I would encourage you to talk to the consulate immediately. They will be able to give you good advice and explain things to you.

Good luck with sorting all of this out and with the future with your little one.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

searcher48

Try calling "Help" http://www.helpvegabaja.com/ its a volunteer group of expats in Torrevieja with 24 hr help line 966 723 733 They have translators etc

cricketman

You have my sympathies willoween

It sounds like there have been some wires crossed

You need to have someone with fluent Spanish with you at all times when dealing with the hospital, guardia and social services

This confirms what we have spoken about in other threads. When giving birth in Spain make sure you or your partner/friend speaks Spanish or you wont know what is going on

Ditto, if you want to bring your family up well in Spain, you must speak Spanish. Just think about how you would get by in England if you didnt speak English

MrMckenna

cannot believe what i have just read!! what a nightmare for you and your family. I agree wif lospacoshombre i would go straight to the british consulate they are there to help people like yourself they would not let you down noway they would do everything they could to help. hope everything works out well for you anyway keep ya chin up

megmet

I'm so sorry that you are having all these problems at what should be a wonderful time in your life.
There is nothing more I can add other than to urge you to contact the consulate immediately.

I wish you well and hope it's all soon favorably sorted out, good luck.

VFR

Willoween where are you based (ish) as someone may well be able to help a little ?

searcher48

playamonte she said "I tried to get us into Torriejva and Elche hospitals" so I presume south Costa Blanca area

jackytoo

Surely this is a bit more serious than asking for help on a forum

anonimouse

There's some good helpful folk on here with good ideas.

There is nothing that most Mothers wouldn't do to get help in this situation and who would care where it came from?

I feel for you and wish you well Willoween

Abyss-Rover

"My partner and I moved out here only a couple of months ago"

Who's advice did you ask, when you were first in the area?

This is not the time to be judgmental, the lady is looking for help and reassurance.

I have to agree, the consulate is the place to start. Good luck and best wishes.

Rosemary

When you are all at sea like this person is you will seek help from anywhere.

Rosemary

lynnxa

I hope she came back, read the advice to contact the consulate, did so........ & then comes back & tells they helped her sort it all out & she has her baby back