Lack of creche places in Cork forced cancer patient to fly parents over from Canada to babysit
Karla Trujillo would have put her son's name down earlier were it not for a previous heartbreaking experience. Picture: Larry Cummins
When Karla Trujillo was unable to secure a creche place for her son while undergoing cancer surgery, she was left with no option but to fly her parents all the way from Canada to babysit.
That is despite an ongoing battle to secure childcare for now 15-month-old Kai. The 34-year-old, who lives in Tivoli in Cork City with her partner — Kai’s father — began making enquiries about creche places late into her pregnancy.
Karla explained that she would have put his name down earlier were it not for a previous heartbreaking experience. “During my previous pregnancy we got overly excited and put our baby’s name down straight away,” the mother of one explained.
“It was after this that I miscarried. Making that call to take my unborn child off the list was soul crushing. I didn’t want to be reminded of that so when I was pregnant with Kai I was very hesitant. I was terrified to inform anyone that I was pregnant.
"Maybe, if I had put Kai’s name down soon after I was pregnant things would have been different, but I know of mums who have put their baby’s name down at the first sign of pregnancy that are still struggling to get a place.”
Karla was left reeling after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer in May.
“I had gone to a GP who advised me to see a specialist. There was a long waiting list, so if you can imagine, that was five years of me waiting, basically feeling tired and experiencing all the symptoms you would with a condition like this.
"When I finally got an appointment I was pregnant with Kai. I was told that realistically I would need to wait until my hormones were settled so they wouldn’t be able to do anything until Kai was born. After all that I finally learned it was cancer.
"It’s the kind of cancer that is better than others in that it progresses very slowly. I had the surgery in July. In the months before that we had been travelling up and down to Crumlin.
"As it turned out Kai, who was premature, had holes in his heart that needed to be closed up. There are times when it felt like the world was against us.”
Karla’s partner, who hails from Bishopstown in Cork City, was working fulltime to support the family. With no creche place available to them, Karla’s parents made the decision to fly over from Canada to help care for Kai.
“There was the operation, but also the recovery period. It would have been easier if we had a full-time creche place but my parents had to fly over to help out. My mum had to take extended holiday leave to support us.
"My brother also came over to offer support which really helped us through that period.”
Karla is recovering well and says she is glad to be able to return to work. However, she is still faced with the same challenges.
“We have a childminder now two days a week who is wonderful. However, this costs us €80 a day so we can only afford two days. While she is deserving of a lot more we simply can’t afford full-time private childcare for five days a week.
Karla is currently splitting her shifts so she and her partner can take turns looking after Kai.
“My work has been great as there are not many employers that would allow this. During this time I have continued to enquire about creche places.
"It’s difficult to know what approach to take sometimes. You are wondering if you should be one of those people who just says 'thank you' when they put you on the waiting list or calls and emails them every single time.
"I felt like the latter could work against me so I chose to give them space. Then I realised that other parents who put their children's names down after me had secured creche places.
"I emailed to ask why this was the case but found myself ghosted afterwards. It seems that much of the time it’s the people who are persistent and make the most noise who get the places.”
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