Jennifer Huculak-Kimmel thought she had done everything right before going on vacation to Hawaii while pregnant.

She got the OK from her doctor and purchased travel insurance.

But none of that mattered when she gave birth nine-weeks early, or when she got home and received a bill for $950,000.

Huculak-Kimmel was six months pregnant when she and her husband Darren travelled to Hawaii last year. Two days after arriving, her water broke and she was airlifted from Maui to Honolulu, Oahu where she spent six weeks on bed rest in hospital.

She says she'd been in hospital for about a week when Blue Cross notified her that her coverage was denied.

Her doctor in Saskatchewan wrote a letter saying the pregnancy was stable and they should cover the costs. That request was denied.

"We thought we did everything right," Huculak-Kimmel told QMI Agency in a phone interview.

The only problem she'd had with the pregnancy was a bladder infection that caused some bleeding. She told the Blue Cross representative about this, and that she would be travelling when she was between 24 and 27 weeks pregnant.

Staff told her if the baby survived it would need to stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) costing $10,000 to $15,000 per day.

Huculak-Kimmel looked at various options to return home, but the doctors said it wasn't safe.

Her daughter, Reece, was delivered by emergency C-section on Dec. 10, 2013, and spent two months in the NICU before the family returned Feb. 13.

During those two months, Huculak-Kimmel rented a condo and a car to travel back and forth to the hospital, spending another $30,000 to live.

"It could happen to anybody... They don't know what caused my water to break. These things just happen," she said.

She is adamant that if she'd been told the pregnancy was high risk or if she didn't have travel insurance she wouldn't have gone on the trip.

"Anybody in their right mind doesn't risk their life, their unborn baby's life to go on a vacation."

Huculak-Kimmel says they don't know what to do about the bill.

"We can't pay the bill," she said. "If you begin, you pay it forever."