When 32-week pregnant Clair Cresswell booked her holiday to France, she thought she'd done everything necessary.
She checked with her doctor that it was OK to travel, she took out travel insurance and organised a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) for herself. However all the planning came to nothing when she gave birth prematurely and ended up trapped in a hospital in France, unable to come home with her baby.
The problem lies in the fact that the EHIC card covers treatment for Clair and her baby son Daniel, unfortunately it doesn't include repatriation. As Clair's travel insurance, like most other insurances, excluded anything to do with pregnancy complications, it won't pay for the incubator needed to transport young Daniel home. So Clair and Daniel are stuck in France until Daniel is well enough to travel normally.
'We had no idea this was going to happen, but we thought that we had done everything to make sure that if something did go wrong, we would be covered by the European health scheme,' Mrs Cresswell told the Telegraph. 'It has come as a terrible shock to find out that we are effectively stuck here and I keep trying not to burst into tears. I cannot fault the French health care system, but I just want to get me and Daniel home and the doctors say that may not be for another three weeks at least. It would be nice for other women to realise that if they go abroad they are taking the risk that they could get marooned with their baby.'
September 4 2006 | 
Baby killed by Rottweiler
