Foreigner couple fucked by premature baby hospital bill $350k in Singapore

[Cottonmouth]

A father whose world "flipped upside down" with the extremely premature birth of his first son in Singapore is now facing a six-figure medical bill.

Originally from Oulton, Brendan Moran moved to the south east Asian city-state a decade ago and welcomed baby Ciaran with his partner Ge Qi last month - three months prematurely, after just 26 weeks and three days.

With Ciaran expected to remain in hospital until at least his original due date of April 28, the couple are braced to pay an estimated medical bill of up to S$350,000 - almost £200,000.

Mr Moran, who works for a not-for-profit organisation, said: "Ciaran is doing well. He he was first born he was weighing just over 1kg, and they lose a lot of that weight straight away, but he is now back at his birth weight which is great.

"We thought we were quite well prepared and we had maternity insurance just in case.

"You read all these horror stories that you think are put out by insurance companies to sell policies, not thinking it will happen to you, but we wanted to err on the side of caution."

The couple's insurance, however, does not cover the full cost of the bill.

Mr Moran, 32, said: "The due date wasn't until April 28 so he is basically guaranteed to be in intensive care until then.

"Our target is to have him home before May. My birthday is May 1 so that would be the best birthday present ever if we can have him home before then.

"It is all about how he develops over the next few months.

"About four hours after his birth they managed to pull out the breathing support which was fantastic as a lot of the chronic conditions with premature babies relate to the lungs as they're not fully developed, but luckily he has been breathing mostly unassisted."

As neither Mr Moran or his Chinese partner Ge Qi were not born in Singapore, they must pay for the healthcare provided.

After covering Ge Qi's medical bills from the couple's savings, they began fundraising online, and have raised more than £50,000 already.

Mr Moran said: "In Singapore, although it is one of the best countries in the world for healthcare, if you're not a Singaporean, boy do you pay for it.

"We are paying about £600 a day and we will be paying that for about three months.

"The moment alarm bells started ringing for me was when I got summoned to this desk and they outlined the fees.

"They told me if she gave birth now this would be the ICU cost and at that point your world flips upside down because you're asked to sign these documents but you don't have a quarter of a million pounds in your bank account.

"It was a big shock but after that it was about keeping my partner and Ciaran healthy in the ward.

"When he was born it was just indescribable. There was such an immense feeling of pride, but it was quite scary when it was happening.

"We have been so overwhelmed by the support we have seen from people all around the world. We've had people donate from Australia, UK and China.

"It has been insane but we still have some way to go."

 

[mahjongking]

its ok, spore is a scam hub,
what can they do if he cant pay? wonder which fucking hospital is that

 

[blackmondy]

Further proof that insurance is a scam.

 

[Cottonmouth]

The audacity of them enjoying world class medical care and expecting any less!
No money please go Malaysia, if anything goes wrong even the funeral there will be cheaper.

 

[A Singaporean]

We must increase gst immediately to help foreigners. Foreigners come first. Sinkies not happy can fuck off. Remember foreigners create good jobs for Sinkies.

 

[Leongsam]

1. They are not married so they shouldn't be procreating.

2. If they can't uphold the moral boundaries needed to abstain from sex before marriage a $2 condom can easily prevent these sorts of budget blowouts.

 

[syed putra]

Mr Moran said: "In Singapore, although it is one of the best countries in the world for healthcare, if you're not a Singaporean, boy do you pay for it

Both are foreigners?

 

[syed putra]

1. They are not married so they shouldn't be procreating.

2. If they can't uphold the moral boundaries needed to abstain from sex before marriage a $2 condom can easily prevent these sorts of budget blowouts.

The girl is a communist. The man helps refugees created by communism.

 

[bobby]

Is the same in every country...i think USA or UK is even worse for foreigners seeking medical treatment.

 

[Willamshakespear]

May all show some compassion. It is within each of us, no matter how cynical or bitter one is with life. Regardless if foreigner or local, they are our fellow humans, & the child is INNOCENT of any wrong doing. If the child does not have the necessary medical support, he will have life issues...can we turn a blind eye to it & justify such indifference to an innocent kid?

No doubt there are others - locals & foreigners- whom will equally need support too. Each of us too have our monetary concerns, & most certainly can't help all, but if we pooled our resources TOGETHER, we can most certainly help most if not all.

$350,000 is an eye-watering bewildering sum. Alone, not many if most would baulk at coming out with such a huge sum, let alone our fellow human couple. However, if we break it up into smaller amounts, we may be able to help SAVE an innocent kid's precious gift of life, of which all alive today had been given, and even SAVE OTHER lives that need help.

-1,000 good natured & compassionate donors with a contribution of just $350 each = $350,000 Are there not even 1000 such Singaporeans in our land of est 5million population?

-10,000 good natured & compassionate donors with a contribution of just $35 each = $350,000 Are there not even 10,000 such Singaporeans in our blessed land of est 5 million population whom do not hungry unlike other countries?

 

[Filloz]

Eligible foreigners working in Singapore can choose Class C wards in government hospitals. Maybe they opted for Class A or a private hospital.

 

[Leongsam]

May all show some compassion. It is within each of us, no matter how cynical or bitter one is with life. Regardless if foreigner or local, they are our fellow humans, & the child is INNOCENT of any wrong doing. If the child does not have the necessary medical support, he will have life issues...can we turn a blind eye to it & justify such indifference to an innocent kid?

No doubt there are others - locals & foreigners- whom will equally need support too. Each of us too have our monetary concerns, & most certainly can't help all, but if we pooled our resources TOGETHER, we can most certainly help most if not all.

$350,000 is an eye-watering bewildering sum. Alone, not many if most would baulk at coming out with such a huge sum, let alone our fellow human couple. However, if we break it up into smaller amounts, we may be able to help SAVE an innocent kid's precious gift of life, of which all alive today had been given, and even SAVE OTHER lives that need help.

-1,000 good natured & compassionate donors with a contribution of just $350 each = $350,000 Are there not even 1000 such Singaporeans in our land of est 5million population?

-10,000 good natured & compassionate donors with a contribution of just $35 each = $350,000 Are there not even 10,000 such Singaporeans in our blessed land of est 5 million population whom do not hungry unlike other countries?

When a baby is born prematurely it is nature's way of expelling a defect so that a new baby can be conceived.

Nature should be allowed to take its course.


https://www.nichd.nih.gov/newsroom/resources/spotlight/012612-effects-preterm-birth

 

[bobby]

2 minutes of pleasure costs $350K already......

 

[congo9]

In Singapore, there's no way to let your premature baby be born unless you are filthy rich or you have some sort of insurance to cover any unforseen circumstances.

Insurance is really a fraud. They always hedge their bet on the most favorable outcome. For example they will insure those really young and healthy ones(almost risk free) but when you ask them to insure a less healthy ones despite giving them most of the healthy ones. They will curse and swear saying insurance doesn't work this way.

Where on earth and how does it work out in a perfect world that all are healthy and no one is sick?

 

[Leongsam]

The Long-Lasting Effects of Preterm Birth​

NICHD-funded research shows how very early preterm birth affects children's brains, stress, and behaviors for years​

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Infants born very preterm—defined as 32 weeks of gestation or less—face many challenges. Because their brains and other organs are not fully developed, these infants often require lifesaving medical treatments after birth, such as machine-assisted breathing. Although critical to survival, such treatments can cause pain and be stressful for infants. As they get older, these children may have problems linked to the stress and pain they experienced during sensitive infant development periods. These problems can include issues with visual memory (such as remembering pictures), poor planning skills, and symptoms of anxiety and depression.
A research group funded in part by the NICHD Pregnancy and Perinatology (PP) Branch recently released results from several studies that examined longer-term effects of pain and stress in infants born very preterm. Understanding how early stressors affect these infants' brain development may help to find ways to make preterm infants' first weeks of life easier and to promote healthy development. Select a link below to learn more.
Mothers Can Soothe Stress
Altered Brain Networks Linked to Cognitive Problems

Mothers Can Soothe Stress​

In one study, researchers examined 18-month-old children who were born extremely preterm (24 to 28 weeks of pregnancy), very preterm (29 to 32 weeks of pregnancy), or full-term (39 to 41 weeks of pregnancy). They measured the level of cortisol—a hormone that helps the body deal with stress—in children's saliva before, during, and after a simple test in which the children stacked and sorted toys with their mothers. At the same time, the researchers analyzed how the mothers interacted with the children.
The study found that the extremely preterm children, who had experienced more painful procedures after birth, performed worse on the test than did children in both other groups. The study also uncovered abnormal patterns in cortisol-based stress responses among both the preterm groups, but especially the extremely preterm, compared to children born at full-term gestations. Children with the most abnormal stress responses were also most likely to show symptoms of anxiety and depression in their daily lives.
However, positive child–mother interactions during the tests seemed to help lower stress in the extremely preterm children, whose initial cortisol levels were much higher than other children's levels. This finding reinforces earlier research suggesting that stress early in life, especially for those born extremely preterm, "reprograms" children's neurological and hormonal systems to respond to their environments in abnormal ways. This research also suggests possible ways to reverse some of the harmful effects of this reprogramming.

Altered Brain Networks Linked to Cognitive Problems​

In the other two studies, the researchers used brain imaging to investigate cognitive deficits—problems with mental processes such as attention, memory, and problem solving—in 7-year-old children who were born very preterm. These cognitive problems, such as with visual memory, planning, problem solving, inhibition, mental flexibility, and multitasking, usually become noticeable during elementary school, even in preterm children with normal intelligence. The type of brain imaging used in these studies, magnetoencephalography (MEG), measures the magnetic fields produced by groups of brain cells that are sending electrical signals to reveal patterns of coordinated activity in different parts of the brain.
The study found that very preterm children had more trouble remembering pairs of simple shapes that briefly appeared on a screen, even just a moment later. They also showed different patterns of brain activity during the testing than did full-term children of the same age. Specifically, very preterm children's brains showed a decrease in coordinated activity in one type of brain wave throughout the cortex, the outer layer of the brain that is involved in cognition. In contrast, full-term children showed a spike in this type of connectivity when performing the same task. The very preterm children with the most connectivity in this type of brain wave did better on the tests, but even those who passed the tests had different types of brain activity than did the full-term children.
A second study examined very preterm children's brain waves in the cortex while the children were not performing any specific task. Researchers found that some of the brain waves of very preterm children were slower than those of other children. The type of slowing the researchers saw has been linked to a variety of brain disorders, including schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. The researchers don't yet know how preterm birth leads to these brain wave patterns or how they, in turn, lead to cognitive problems.
The findings from these three studies provide insight into some of the longer term effects of preterm birth. But, importantly, the studies point to potential avenues of future research and interventions that could help these children overcome any deficits as they continue to grow.
For additional information on NICHD research on preterm birth, select one of the links below:

• Research articles discussed in this Spotlight: (Note: These are scientific documents geared toward an audience of researchers.)
  • Brummelte, S., Grunau, R.E., Zaidman-Zait, A., Weinberg, J., Nordstokke, D., Cepeda, I.L. (2011). Cortisol levels in relation to maternal interaction and child internalizing behavior in preterm and full-term children at 18 months corrected age. Developmental Psychobiology, 53(2), 184-195. PubMed ID: 21298633.
  • Doesburg, S.M., Ribary, U., Herdman, A.T., Miller, S.P., Poskitt, K.J., Moiseev, A., Whitfield, M.F., Synnes, A., Grunau, R.E. (2011a). Altered long-range alpha-band synchronization during visual short-term memory retention in children born very preterm. NeuroImage, 54(3), 2330-2339. PubMed ID: 20974268
  • Doesburg, S.M., Ribary, U., Herdman, A.T., Moiseev, A., Cheung, T., Miller, S.P., Poskitt, K., Weinberg, H., Whitfield, M.F., Synnes, A., Grunau, R.E. (2011b). Magnetoencephalography reveals slowing of resting peak oscillatory frequency in children born very preterm. Pediatric Research, 70(2), 171-175. PubMed ID: 21544009.
• NICHD A to Z Topic: Preterm Labor and Birth
• NICHD Pregnancy and Perinatology (PP) Branch
  • Scientific Report: Prematurity Research at the NIH
  • PP Branch, NICHD, Report to the NACHHD Council, September 2008 (Note: This is a scientific document geared toward an audience of researchers.)
• NICHD National Child and Maternal Health Education Program
  • Focus Area: Late Preterm Birth
• All NICHD news releases on preterm birth and preterm infants
• Previous NICHD Spotlights on Preterm Birth:
  • Increasing Awareness of Late Preterm Birth
  • NICHD Scientific Lead for Surgeon General's Conference on Preventing Preterm Birth
  • Preventing Preterm Birth

 

[Willamshakespear]

I fully understand that there will be complications with such kids. However, NOT all kids will face such predicament as described. It will take a lot of work, patience & especially love to rear such kids. That a mother is prepared to carry the baby for 9 months is no mean feat. It can only come from love that is within the couple, or else they would had put on a condom or aborted the kid. All the parents & kid is pleading for is a chance to live.. a chance that had been granted to all of us alive today.

Our parents loved us, despite the difficulties & hardships they had to go thru. Anyone above 30 yrs old will remember what Spore was like in the 90s - Asian financial crisis, terrorism, inflation, etc, etc. But despite all that, they never gave up, & did not even have the benefits of new parents of today such as child care leaves, financial grants, etc. If they had given up, they could had easily used condoms or aborted us, & you/me would not had been alive today, to see, touch, hear, taste, smell our world, with its ugliness, so too beauty. an experience which we would had never known.

All that they-our fellow human regardless if local or foreigner, are only asking for is a CHANCE, to live, with our help...a help that had been given to us through others-local & foreign- contributions to our society - economic, military, education, scientific knowledge, etc opportunities that saw our phenomenal growth since 1965...

 

[winners]

My boss used to tell me: Giving money to the insurance company is easy, but taking money from the insurance company is difficult.

 

[rushifa666]

China ho? Spg with angmoh always show tits

 

[sweetiepie]

Fucking bastard son of the gun and ter nao donator KNN they should just donate a medical facilitated plane ticket home and save the hospital cost if cannot afford.

 

[Cottonmouth]

May all show some compassion. It is within each of us, no matter how cynical or bitter one is with life. Regardless if foreigner or local, they are our fellow humans, & the child is INNOCENT of any wrong doing. If the child does not have the necessary medical support, he will have life issues...can we turn a blind eye to it & justify such indifference to an innocent kid?

No doubt there are others - locals & foreigners- whom will equally need support too. Each of us too have our monetary concerns, & most certainly can't help all, but if we pooled our resources TOGETHER, we can most certainly help most if not all.

$350,000 is an eye-watering bewildering sum. Alone, not many if most would baulk at coming out with such a huge sum, let alone our fellow human couple. However, if we break it up into smaller amounts, we may be able to help SAVE an innocent kid's precious gift of life, of which all alive today had been given, and even SAVE OTHER lives that need help.

-1,000 good natured & compassionate donors with a contribution of just $350 each = $350,000 Are there not even 1000 such Singaporeans in our land of est 5million population?

-10,000 good natured & compassionate donors with a contribution of just $35 each = $350,000 Are there not even 10,000 such Singaporeans in our blessed land of est 5 million population whom do not hungry unlike other countries?

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