Dubai baby fighting to live as parents battle mounting hospital debt

It's been a bittersweet period for Dubai resident Roxanne Enriquez Adviento who gave birth to her first child, only to be told that her baby needed urgent medical attention in order to live.

Adviento prematurely gave birth to her son, Aaron Karl, last month. The baby weighed just 1kg and had to be rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit where he has been receiving treatment for the last 33 days. 

While the baby's condition has gradually improved, the hospital bill has reached Dh250,000 and is expected to climb futher as doctors advised 30 more days of hospital confinement for baby Karl.

Adviento, who works as a personal assitant at an insurance brokerage firm, said trouble started when she found out that her health insurance worth Dh500,000 would not cover the full hospital bill.

The insurance firm came back with shocking news: her case was a pre-existing condition, which means they would only be able to cover Dh150,000 of the cost

"I had two other miscarriages before this pregnancy and the diagnosis was that I had a weak cervix," Adviento said, adding that she planned to plead with the insurance company to reconsider.

"My husband and I were counting on full insurance cover. Now, we don't know where to get the money," she said. Her husband is a sales attendant for a shoe store and their combined income isn't enough to cover the costs, she said.

"I've been in and out of the hospital looking for ways to come up with extra cash, but it's nowhere near the amount that  we still need," she said

source : gulfnews