Thanks for the suggestions all. I did check out the insurance/health care situation before booking. There is an international medical school there, St George's, so that should be a safe bet for any problems. The island is not big so it wouldn't be difficult to get there quickly from just about anywhere. My insurance covers me for emergency care while abroad so that's set. We did think about the various mosquito born diseases. The really bad one (Zikva) has not been reported in Grendada yet, and I will just need to be careful about using insect repellant for the other two. The EPA doesn't suggest any restrictions on use of DEET in pregnancy.
Congratulations on the impending arrival! And now I'm going to throw cold water on your suggestion...
Travel insurance or health insurance? And are you 100% certain that medical costs in a foreign country for a condition you knew about before you left are covered? I'm a NICU nurse in a popular tourist destination. Let me give you the worst case scenario.
You go into labor at 24 weeks. For reasons beyond your control the baby is born and needs intensive care. 24 weeks is at the lower limit of viability, so often these little guys are in hospital until after their due date. That's 16 weeks from when bub is born.
Your insurance refuses to pay up because you had a "pre-existing condition". You can't argue that you didn't know about it, so they don't cover your costs. You're out at a minimum $2k a day for intensive care fees, plus all the add ons like specialist fees etc.
You need to stay with bub while they're in hospital. There's no coverage for emergency accomodation through your insurance, because again, pre-existing condition. You have to leave work early, and hubby has to go home to work, because you need at least one income. You're stuck in a foreign country paying exorbitant rental fees on a property that you hate, but it's conveniently located to the hospital.
Bub goes through the swings and roundabouts of an extreme premmie. You go along for the ride on the emotional roller coaster, but without the support of your husband (he's at home working, remember?) or any family. When bub is finally stable enough for a medical evac you wait for days to weeks for the appropriate transport to be available, because you're not considered an emergency due to the fact that bub is in hospital and being looked after.
So, to sum up, you're looking at $2k x 100 days for bed fees, 12-14 weeks of missed income for you, a couple of weeks of missed income for your husband, and the extra expense of running a second household in a different country.
It won't happen to me, you say? Want to know how many times I've seen a version (close enough to be slightly scary) of this scenario? About 10-12 times a year. And that's just in my own hospital.
Just some food for thought...