Coronavirus Australia: Mum-to-be stranded far from Colombian home as birth nears

Colombian mother-to-be Ana Milena is facing mounting medical costs and uncertainty about where she will give birth.

Colombian Ana Milena is unable to get home to give birth. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

After more than a decade of trying to conceive, Ana Milena should be overjoyed that in a few weeks’ she will be holding her baby boy.

Instead, the Colom­bian student is facing mounting medical costs and uncertainty about where she will give birth after becoming stranded in Brisbane because of international border closures.

With no Medicare number and health insurance that does not cover maternity expenses, Ms Mil­ena, 41,­ faces a $5500 minimum bill to give birth at the Royal ­Brisbane and Women’s Hospital next month. The financial consent form would cover the bare minimum costs of the birth, with some of the additional costs covered by private medical operator My Midwives. Any extra care related to a possible premature birth, caesar­ean or induction will cost more.

“I really thought I’d be home right now,’’ Ms Milena told The Australian through an interpreter.

“I never thought I’d even be able to get pregnant, so this whole situation is a miracle that has ­become so stressful.

“I had been so hopeless, but in the past week it feels like we are getting somewhere and we have had so much support.”

The latest bill follows a string of setbacks over the past few weeks. After getting the surprising news that she was pregnant within a fortnight of arriving in Australia, she and her husband decided to cut her study trip from seven to four months.

Ms Milena first tried to get home in March as the pandemic set in, booking a flight from Perth to Brisbane before continuing her 32-hour journey to her hometown of Bucaramanga, Colombia. However, these plans were dashed when President Ivan Duque Marquez gave two days’ notice of Colombia’s international border closure, forcing the expectant mother to stay in Brisbane with a friend.

Now 35 weeks’ pregnant, she is unable to access a humanitarian flight organised by the Colombian consulate this weekend after an Australian doctor refused to give her clearance to fly because of the limited antenatal care she has received and the high-risk nature of her pregnancy.

Queensland’s Nurses and Midwives Union has offered its support to expedite the pro­cess and assist negotiations with Queensland Health. A representative from the Metro North health division could not comment on Ms Milena’s case because of privacy.

Union secretary Beth Mohle said all women deserved approp­riate access to care, particularly in these unusual circumstances.

“As midwives and as Australians, we care for people when they are vulnerable,” Ms Mohle said. “That is the reason why we felt we had to do whatever we can to make sure Ana and her baby are seen to in the current circumstances.”

Baby Emanuel is due on June 16, the same day Ms Milena’s stud­ent visa expires.

While Ms Milena has some savings, they will not be enough to get home with her baby when it is safe to do so, which could be months away.

A Go Fund Me collection has been established and currently sits just shy of $5000.