A Saskatoon couple say they are being denied thousands of dollars in parental benefits because their daughter was born prematurely.
Dennica Wailing gave birth to daughter Presley 13 weeks early, leaving her just 22 work hours short of the amount needed to qualify for full parental leave benefits. For the past several months, she and husband Ryan have been fighting for thousands of dollars in benefits they have yet to receive.
“We feel we’re being punished for having a premature baby,” Ryan said in an interview this week.
Their doctor, who has written letters on their behalf, is also frustrated with the inflexibility of the system.
“There’s been a very hard line taken about this. The circumstances don’t seem to matter. There should be some leeway,” said Dr. Cynthia Nave of the Lakewood Medical Clinic.
Dennica has worked most of her life as a server, salon manager or other jobs, except for leaves to have her first two children. The third pregnancy was at first uneventful, with an expected due date in mid-October. On the morning of July 12, Dennica was preparing for a family trip to Meeting Lake a few hours northwest of Saskatoon when she had some “issues” in the bathroom.
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“I thought it was no big deal. I drove myself to the hospital,” she said.
By the time she arrived at the hospital, Presley’s leg had already emerged. Doctors decided the baby needed to come out, so Presley was delivered via caesarean section just after 2 p.m. She weighed just over two pounds and spent the next three months in hospital receiving excellent care, said the Wailings.
In addition to the stress of Presley’s precarious health, the Wailings were informed that Dennica had not worked enough hours to qualify for the $1,100 per month she received during her other maternity leaves.
Instead, her monthly cheque would amount to just over $100.
An official with the federal Human Resources and Skills Development Canada noted the calculation for maternity benefits is based on the amount worked in the 26 weeks (six months) prior to a claim.
Dennica said she needed to work 600 hours in those 26 weeks to qualify for her previous level of benefit, and was just 22 hours short at the time of the birth.
She was working in July and would easily have worked the required hours if the baby had not been so premature. Despite letters and calls by the Wailings and Nave to various officials, nothing changed.
“I have worked my whole life and have paid a lot of money into this system,” Dennica said.
To make matters worse, Ryan is being denied his insurance claim for a leave from work to be with his wife and daughter in hospital in the weeks following the birth. The couple says it is out a total of more than $18,000, and has had to re-finance their home.
They also tried to get help from their member of Parliament, Lynn Yelich. Several calls this week to Yelich’s office by The StarPhoenix went unreturned.
As for Presley, she’s at home now, on supplemental oxygen and a host of medications.
However, her heart, brain and lungs all showed normal function during her latest checkup and she’s gained a surprising amount of weight, to her current 10 pounds, five ounces.
“In the middle of the night, you still go in there to make sure she’s still alive,” Ryan said.
“We wouldn’t trade her for anything.”
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