A woman who gave birth more than three months before her due date while on holiday in Mexico is facing a £10,00 bill to care for her premature baby.
Dawn Whitear, 33, travelled to Puerto Vallarta after being cleared by doctors to fly.
But just two days into her holiday, she began to feel contractions and baby Hugo was born extremely premature, weighing under 2lb, which is less than a bag of sugar.
Hugo has been kept in hospital for four weeks since the due to problems with his intestines and blood.
Though their travel insurance is covering the treatment costs, Dawn and her partner David are now trying to raise the cash require to stay by his bedside while they wait to get him home.
The couple have launched a crowdfunding appeal in a bid to raise the money.
David told Express.co.uk that Hugo is "extremely weak".
"He's 14 weeks premature and on a ventilator," he explained.
"He's already had a blood transfusion as his blood levels were getting low. He also has a couple of issues with his intestines, which they are monitoring.
"He is in critical care and we are now going to be stuck in Mexico while he recovers to full strength so we can get home. It could take three to four months."
David said they were "running low on money after all the bills we’ve had to pay upfront" and now require a place to stay near the hospital so they can be close to their infant son.
The couple, who are from Eastbourne, East Sussex, said they also need money for day-to-day essentials.
They estimate that the cost of this, combined with accommodation and further healthcare bills, could be up to £10,000.
On their GoFundMe page, David wrote: "We came here for a holiday before our baby came along but he decided he wanted to come very early, and now that we are unable to get home back to the UK to be able to work and provide for him.
"Hugo is now in critical care and we are now going to be stuck in Mexico while he recovers to full strength so we can get home, which could take 3-4 months.
"We are running low on money after all the bills we’ve had to pay upfront and now need to find a place to stay near the hospital so we can be close by to him in case anything happens to him.
"Also we need to get essentials to get by day to day, we would really appreciate any donation to help us all get through this difficult and uneasy situation that we are currently in, thank you in advance."
The couple have so far raised just under £5,000. You can donate by visiting here.
