Bobcat has given you good advice

Anna, What a mess. I know you would like to give her the job, but you can't pay here to ignore you and your mom. I can understand that she was in a divided state of mind being in late pregnancy and now with a newborn, but she did ask for the job and did take your money.

If It were me, and I wanted to try to make this work, (and believe me I have forgiven one young woman so many times over the last four years, it isn't funny. Each time it is like reinventing the wheel.) Any wasy. You will need to make a list of what you think you are paying for and go to her house, preferably when her husband can be around to (yes I know it is 2008, but she can't leave the baby alone and so she will have to leave the child with its dad or tote it around, and if he is going to make this difficult and she has to sneak around, it is not going to work). Th deal breaker/maker will be that you must be able to touch base with her each day she works since your Mom fell. I would have her call me from your house on your phone at a specified time and tell me how Mom is.

She will need a place to put the baby down at your house and if this is working, she will eventually need a play pen there or something, a few toys and some essentials. That might make it easier for her to be reliable, but if she is just to scatterred to actually do the job and only wants the money, it simply won't work out.

I'm glad your Mom was able to call 911 this time, and wasn't badly hurt, and I suppose she told the where to get a key, but the time is coming when she should not be left alone at all. We all get there, just not yet. I hope you can work out a system with this neighbor but it will take some thought as to how you can be sure that she is keeping her part of the deal. Good luck, I'm sure others will tell you not to mess with her at all if she is unreliable, and they are probably correct, because your Mom might not be able to call 911 for her self if there is a next fall, and your neighbor MUST take this seriously.

Here's a thought , can meals on wheels bring her lunch when she is home alone, can she answer the door for them? That way she would have a meal and some one make sure that she was all right at a certain time.