Australian tourist gives birth in Nadi taxi

from w
Although there's usually a travel advisory not to travel on a plane when 7 months pregnant, one tourist did get her doctor's permission to fly in order to attend a friend's wedding in Fiji.  However the baby didn't read this and hurried to be born in a Nadi taxi!  One thing puzzles me though about the story - why do they need $60,000 to get back to Australia?  Even without medical insurers coming up with medivac for them, it should only be the cost of a ticket for the baby, plus accommodation in perhaps Denarau for  few weeks waiting for the baby to gain weight. It's not good to put a small baby on a plane because of the pressure so they should wait perhaps six weeks.. but I think there's some exaggeration here regarding the $60.000.. Nadi hospital wouldn't charge much would they?  Maybe the taxi driver charged a bit extra!

From Daily Mail Austraia.

'I was so fearful our baby would die': Australian mother who's stranded in Fiji with premature baby relives 'horrendous' moment she gave birth in back of a taxi

·         Sydney couple Jayne and Ashley Wren flew to Fiji last week for a friend's wedding after getting the all clear from a doctor.   Jayne gave birth to her first child in the back of a taxi in Nadi, Fiji

·         'By the time we reached the front of Nadi Hospital, her head was out,' she said on Sunday as she described the traumatic birth.  Maddison Jayne Cazna Wren was born at 33 weeks at 1.7kg 

·         Medical expenses, accommodation and flights for the baby won't be covered by travel insurance

·         An online campaign has been launched to help cover the $60,000 needed to transport Maddi home.

By SARAH DEAN

PUBLISHED: 17:39 AEST, 8 June 2014 | UPDATED: 18:49 AEST, 9 June 2014

A mother, who is desperately trying to raise the $60,000 needed to fly her and her premature daughter home to Australia, has described the 'horrendous' moment she began giving birth in the back of a taxi on the streets of Nadi, Fiji.

'I was so fearful that our baby would die,' she told Daily Mail Australia from Fiji, where she is stranded until they can afford to bring their newborn home - and their baby is strong enough to travel.

Jayne and Ashley Wren weren't expecting to be parents until July, so they did not obtain travel insurance that covered the cost of their baby being born while they were overseas for a friend's wedding last week.

'The experience of giving birth in the back of a taxi was horrendous to say the least... This being my first baby, being in a foreign country and not knowing that the labor was progressing so quickly,' Mrs Wren explained.

The Sydney couple are now stranded in Fiji they as they did not obtain travel insurance that covered the cost of their baby being born. Recounting the terrifying moment she went into labour early, she said: 'By the time we reached the front of Nadi Hospital, her head was out and I managed to get from the back seat of the taxi to a stretcher bed, where I gave birth on all fours to my baby girl.

'She literally fell out under my dress on to the mattress of the bed... My husband had to try and catch her... It all happened so fast.'

Mrs Wren tried her hardest not to give into contractions but it was no use.

'Everything inside my head in the back of that cab said "don't push"... but when you are in labor, your body just takes over and it just knows what to do.'

Maddison Jayne Cazna Wren arrived early at 33 weeks at 1.7kg and was placed on an incubator at Nadi Hospital.

'The difficulties we are facing at the moment are that she is too small to fly weighing in today at just 1.65kg,' Mrs Wren said on Sunday.

'She is under the blue ray lights in the incubator at the moment being treated for jaundice, and we will hopefully be able to turn those blue lights off tomorrow or Tuesday. 

'Then she has to have the temperature in the humidicrib turned down bit by bit to see if she can tolerate the outside air temperature by herself. This will take another few days. The great news is that she can breath by herself.'

Maddison Jayne Cazna Wren was born at 33 weeks at 1.7kg and remains in an incubator at Nadi Hospital The father of Maddison, Ashley Wren, was a groomsman at his friend's wedding in Nadi and wasn't expecting to be a father so soon

The couple had flown to Fiji after being granted full permission by doctors in Sydney.

An online campaign has been launched by their friend to help bring baby Maddi home and cover the medical expenses for the newborn.

Being so far from home, Mrs Wren is eternally grateful to the staff at Nadi hospital. 

'The treatment for our beautiful daughter at Nadi Hospital has been so amazing. We are lucky enough to have been blessed with an Australian/Fijian doctor by the name of Sai Misi Misi. He is extremely knowledgeable being a pediatrician and has had a lot of experience with premature babies having worked in Australia for a number of years.

'The nursing staff have been so wonderfully loving and caring, and they are totally mesmerised by having a white baby in their care, which is something they don't get to experience very often,' she explained.

The family are now waiting not only to raise enough money to bring Maddi home but also for her to be strong enough to fly.

An online campaign has launched to help transport Maddi home, which is believed to cost at least $60,000.

'To bring Maddi home we need her to be well enough to fly in an open bassinette (which is Doctor Sai's preference over bringing the humidicrib on the plane with us) and to be able to cope with the cabin pressure of the plane.'

The couple may be miles from their friends and family at home but on Monday Mrs Wren's siter flew in to Fiji to help out.And she brought with her some much needed clothes for baby Maddi.

'She was able to bring with her a couple of little 0000 Bonds wondersuits and some little singlets for Maddison to wear, which are huge on her, but they were the smallest ones she could find.

'My beautiful friend Angela who happens to have a five month old baby and was at the wedding with us gave us a pink snuggle blanket, some of her baby's nappies and some wipes to get us through the first couple pf days until we could buy some things for her ourselves. Also, the beautiful staff at the hospital and the Shearaton Denerau gave us some of their own baby clothes.'

Mrs Wren's friend Angela Allison is the person in charge of setting up the fundraising page, which has so far seen almost $7,000 raised to bring Maddi home.

However, the current amount is still a long way off the $60,000 needed to cover Maddi's medical bills and travel costs, plus the extra accommodation and flights for the medic to travel with them.

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Medical expenses, accommodation and flights for the baby won't be covered by travel insurance

Ms Allison told Daily Mail Australia the new parents have been overwhelmed by support from friends, family and strangers.

'Now that a few Aussie celebs have retweeted we are gaining donations from strangers,' she said. 'Initially it was just friends and family of Ash and Jay and people who read about it via the shared Facebook link. It's so exciting to watch the amount raise and to think about how much this is going to mean for them.'

To donate, click here.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2651933/I-fearful-baby-die-Australian-mother-stranded-Fiji-describes-horrendous-moment-gave-birth-taxi-seven-weeks-early-says-baby-Maddie-small-fly-home.html#ixzz348ddrSSN