Bumrungrad- Birth Package

[TanjaB]

My hubby & I are expecting our first child in August. After looking at various hospitals, we have decided to stay at the Bumrungrad, where I have so far received excellent care. I have a question regarding the birth package. It's supposed to be ca THB42000 for a normal vaginal delivery (which is what I am hoping for). Friends of ours had a baby at the Samitevej last year (c-section) and ended up paying almost twice their quoted package price, with lots of extras added on. To be fair, mum and baby stayed an extra two nights at the hospital, but even this should not have increased the price by that much surely! I am hoping that someone on here has had experience with childbirth at the Bumrungrad and can tell me how many 'add on's' we should be expecting on top of the package price. I'd be grateful for any info on this.

Also, for woman who had a natural birth: was there any pressure on you to give birth within a certain period of time? I've heard of someone at another hospital being told after 12 hours of labour that she'd have to have a c-section at that point - luckily her husband was there to prevent this and the baby was born naturally a few hours later. I would like to let nature run its cause, however long it takes (as long as the baby is in no distress of course).

Has anyone used the 'Natural birth room' at the Bumrungrad? What did you think? Was gas and air available to you?

Thanks for your help!

[chanchao]

Whatever you do, NEGOTIATE the options beforehand.

It still strikes me as amazing (to avoid the word 'disgusting') that really pretend-to-be-professional hospitals bring up difficult questions on extras, additions, pricing etc at the very moment Mum is about to be wheeled into the delivery room.

Sadly you have to approach this as a business transaction, and you have to firmly specify that they're not going to use the highest-margin imported medicine for something they have very common generic options for. So set pricing ceilings, and if they go over it, you still have a LOT of negotiating space to just refuse to pay. (This is Dad's job, and Dad better not mention any of it to Mum. Dad's at the accounting desk haggling over price. )

They KNOW you're in a weak position to think about such things and will operate on a 'whatever it takes, it's for the baby'-mode , which they take ruthless advantage of.

DONT TRUST ANY HOSPITAL on this. Especially not the fancy ones like Bummyrat.

Edited April 10, 2007 by chanchao

[sugarhead]

Yes, health has become big business. But try to find a hospital with the kind of facilities, the kind of service and the kind of doctors for as little as 42,000 Baht all in...

Our son Yan was born in Bumrungrad in 2001. We booked the birth package (amazingly, the price hasn't increased since !) and did not pay any additional charges.

Yan was born naturally, no complications, after about 6 hours of labor. There was no pressure whatsoever from the medical crew. The staff and doctors were lovely and extremely professional.

This was our first child and we were scared to death. But everything went perfectly well and Yan's birth became a 5-star experience. I would recommend Bumrungrad to any expecting couple.

Our second child was born in KL in a hospital with a similar reputation, but it did not live up to Bumrungrad in any aspect.

Don't worry, you choose the right place and you're in good hands !

[Shola]

Hi,

Congrats! A good Q for me as I just had my 35 week check up at Bumrungrad today and asked my doc for the second time about these supposed 'add ons' I've been hearing about, he said that none of his patients have ever had to pay extra unless there was a complication with the baby or mother, the only extras he'd seen was for phonecalls and food from the restaurants. I also asked him about the possibility of being told I needed a C-section if labor was slow, he said the only time he would suggest a C-section would be if labor was not progressing properly or baby was in distress, he actually deals with the highest number of natural births in the hospital, Dr Nopadol, he's a nice guy and learnt all his stuff in England.

I also went for a stroll to check out the labor suites, the natural birth room is lovely and colourful with a big bed, but I am unable to use it as I want an epidural, so the other rooms are kind of what you'd expect plain and clinical looking, the woman I spoke to there was really nice and explained I would only be there for 2 hours after baby was born then transfered to the maternity ward.

Also if you go for the natural birth package and end up having an epidural or C-section they will just swap the package for you.

Good luck!

I will defo post a review here after my birth in about 5-6 weeks.

Shola

XXX

[CarlBkk]

Bumrungrad is more of a business than a hospital. They'll charge whatever they can, add on what they can and prolong treatment. I'd opt for Phayathai 2 hospital or similar.

[MsFigure]

My daughter was born at the Bumrungrad and there were no added or hidden charges to our (ceasarian) package. I can't express enough how good the hospital, doctors and nursing staff were and I would definitely have another baby there without a second thought or doubt. Unless there are complications with the baby or mother (the make mention of this in the package) - the cost of the package is exactly what you will pay.

Given the choice between having another child in Thailand (Bumrungrad) or going back to Australia for the birth - It would definitely be the Bumrungrad. Even my mother who flew over from Australia for my daughters birth could not believe how awesome they were with everything, and she said there was nothing even close to the Bumrungrad back in Aus.

Good Luck and I can assure you that your doc and Bumrungrad staff will take excellent care of you and baby

Di

[TanjaB]

@ Sugar Head, Shola & MsFigure: Thank you so much for answering my questions, it's nice to hear something positive every once in a while! As I've said before, we have visited other hospitals and looked at their maternity & labour wards and although I really liked the staff at the Bangkok Christian Hospital, I felt the most comfortable and relaxed at Bumrungrad. I also really like and trust my doctor (Dr Anong). At the end of the day we know that we could safe a lot of money by having the baby somewhere else, but in this situation we simply had to put our gut feelings first and finances second. I feel that baby and I will be in very good hands, and from what I have read so far- from people who have actually been there and done it- I feel reassured that we made the right decision. Thank you!!!

@Shola: i can't wait to read how you got on! All the best of luck to you and your baby, I hope your birthing experience will be a wonderful one!!!

[samran]

All the best with it.

I've heard good reports about Dr Nappadon at Bamrungrad....Many friends who have had their babies there, and all happy. Being comfy with the doctor, and the resulting little one with Ten fingers and ten toes, that is what it is all about.

We went to Samitivej 12 months ago, and had similar questions at the time.

If you are cost concious about anything in the lead up (we were - my wife had to get some shots as she is RH negative - 12K a pop - one before birth and one after birth), we found out after the fact that you can get the same shot at Chula for 3K. For us, these lead up costs were the 'nasty' suprises as far as we were concerned.

Good luck. 12 months on, we are having a blast.

[paulfr]

I failed to take the time to negotiate the options and prices and our

daughter's birth cost 62,000thb.

We had no real exptras that I know of and somehow the 42000 package

ended up at 62000.

I did check a good hospital upcountry to see what the comparisons

were and it was about 25000 in Saraburi.

So I got nailed at Bumrungrad.

But it is my daughter, the doctors was excellent and it only happens once.

Shop around.

[RusT]

My wife had our baby at Bangkok Hospital Samui. Originally we wanted the natural delivery package but as things progressed we were advised during labour that she should have a c-section. It was our first pregnancy and we of course trusted the experts opinion so we upgraded to the c-section package. All of the staff in the delivery room were totally professional, courteous and we felt right from the beginning we were in good hands. We were totally satisfied with the delivery of our baby and during our 5 day stay we were well attended and looked after by the doctors and nursing staff.

The problem was the bill. I specifically requested to have a look at the bill the night before as I wanted to check it over and make sure it was all sorted so we could have a smooth check out by midday the next day. It ended up being around 40% more expensive. I had a feeling there might be some add-ons but not that much! They charged us for things like needles, bandages, panadol etc - all things you would expect to be included in the package. They also charged us for additional tests they conducted - one of them which we were not even shown the results. And there were numerous other ridiculous items. I asked regularly during our stay if there were additional charges for this and that but was nobody could give me a straight answer. Even the doctor shrugged her shoulders.

I ended up haggling and go over ammended bills for five hours in the morning. They were so slow and the bill would come back incorrectly each time etc. In short a comedy of errors. I was furious. I felt like I was at a fruit market and not a five star hospital the way I had to haggle over every single item on the bill. Despite the fact that I had been requesting to be informed of additional charges right from day one.

In conclusion the competence and knowledge of the doctors and nurses was outstanding as was their standard of treatment and care. But their billing process was totally unprofessional and I would go as far as to call it a deliberate and coordinated attempt from the hospital to overcharge it's guests.

I hope this and other posts here will give you some idea of what these top hosptials are capable of doing. At the end of the day it's a bit of a catch 22 situation as I didn't and still don't want to use the local hospitals for complicated procedures - obviously when it's your child you don't want to take any chances. I guess it's a matter of asking around and hearing of first-hand experiences. I'm sure some hospitals are less excessive in this practice than others. Lets hope Bumrungrad is one of them. Best of luck!

Edited April 22, 2007 by RusT

[Strap]

I failed to take the time to negotiate the options and prices and our

daughter's birth cost 62,000thb.

We had no real exptras that I know of and somehow the 42000 package

ended up at 62000.

I did check a good hospital upcountry to see what the comparisons

were and it was about 25000 in Saraburi.

So I got nailed at Bumrungrad.

But it is my daughter, the doctors was excellent and it only happens once.

Shop around.

Hi Paul,

the answer I got about the extra 20K was the doctors fee????

Go figure. My bill was the same 42k came out all done @ 63,500 including paperwork.

Cheers

Strap

PS: I definitely feel it was the best place to have our child though, great care for mom and the child. AND smelling salts for me after i passed out!!

[paperplates]

I had my first born at Bumrungrad two years ago and was charged exact package price, despite having had the RH injection and fibroids removed. I actually paid 39,000 for a c-section. The following year when I had my daughter the package price had gone up to 62,000 so I decided to go to a cheaper hospital. The 'cheaper' hospital ended up charging me 63,000 baht even though their package price was 35,000. I did some negotiation and ended up paying 50 somthing but I let feeling like the hospital were most interested in my money. I wished in the end that I'd stuck with Bumrungrad. Better service overall and they do seem more up front than other hospitals. Samitivej seem to rob every patient that sets foot in the door.

[MsFigure]

I failed to take the time to negotiate the options and prices and our

daughter's birth cost 62,000thb.

We had no real exptras that I know of and somehow the 42000 package

ended up at 62000.

I did check a good hospital upcountry to see what the comparisons

were and it was about 25000 in Saraburi.

So I got nailed at Bumrungrad.

But it is my daughter, the doctors was excellent and it only happens once.

Shop around.

What package did your wife have? If she had a c-section she would've paid 62000

Normal Delivery package is 42000 and C-Section 62000

All I know is that we told our doc what package we wanted, and there was no need to negotiate the price and we paid exactly what was quoted in the package. Our doc was fantastic as he is also a fertility specialist and helped us to fall pregnant in the first place.

[bangkapiboy]

We used Vejthani Hospital and were very happy. Except they put the TB vaccine in my daughter's arm without my consent!! They can inject it around her butt instead. It made me upset, but other than that everything was superb.

Don't forget to make your wishes known about the TB shot.

[t.s]

Bumrungrad is more of a business than a hospital. They'll charge whatever they can, add on what they can and prolong treatment. I'd opt for Phayathai 2 hospital or similar.

some specifics please. reading the rest of the posts it seems you are in a bitter minority.

my child was born there 6 months ago. we were 5,000 baht over quoted package price, largely due to ordered in extras.

paperwork was filled out flawlessly, care was not prolonged.

i was hospitalized for 3 nights last year due to a very sudden athsma attack. again, cost of care was reasonable and well within my insurance parameters. again, nothing seemed prolonged or excessive.

i have used BHI since i have arrived in thailand 10 years ago and have never had anything amiss re billing.

[whatsupdoc]

Bumrungrad is more of a business than a hospital. They'll charge whatever they can, add on what they can and prolong treatment. I'd opt for Phayathai 2 hospital or similar.

Fully agree with CarlBKK. Had my first baby born at PhayaThai 2 (C-section) and was very satisfied with the service and price of the package. Will go to PhayaThai 2 again for the second one.

[gisjames]

We had our daughter at Bumrumgrad. We opted for the 42k package but ended up needing a c section . Total cost was 69k including everything, which was what I had been told would be the cost if we went to emergency c section. So no nasty suprises for us

The care was wonderful and I would recommend Bumrumgrad to anyone. We are having our scond child there in August

[TanjaB]

We had our daughter at Bumrumgrad. We opted for the 42k package but ended up needing a c section . Total cost was 69k including everything, which was what I had been told would be the cost if we went to emergency c section. So no nasty suprises for us

The care was wonderful and I would recommend Bumrumgrad to anyone. We are having our scond child there in August

We might 'bump' into each other wandering the corridors, as I'm due in August, too.

As mentioned previously I am very happy with my choice to stay at Bumrungrad after looking at other hospitals and am accepting the fact that it will cost a bit more. Thanks again to everyone who gave feedback on the subject!