Having A Baby In Thai Hospital

[Phil Conners]

Congratulations big boy!

[freeman]

The birth of our first child was calculated for Jan 28, but the baby is still not coming out.

The Ultrasound computer calculated anything from Jan 28 to Feb 2 on different days and progress of pregnancy.

The doctor insists now on a c-section on the 5th, one week after due date.

I did some research on the internet and the general consent seems to be that up to two weeks after due date is no issue and before doing a c-section hormonal inducement should be considered.

I spoke to the Obs about it and he was all against inducement, telling tales of uterus ruptures and other disasters.

I'm really sitting on a fence here and have to make a decision asap. Any advise is most welcome!

The hospital is the Phyathai in Sri Racha. So far we were very happy with service and professionalism.

Raro, any idea how much will it cost for a c-section or normal vaginal in Phyathai hospital?

[Forethat]

ok...went to the hospital early morning, wife had some labour pain. Arriving at the hospital the pain was gone, everything back to normal.

Then a 3 hours discussion with various doctors, nurses, whatever staff. Evaluating various options, related risks etc. I also learned that babies are usually born after 37 weeks and with 41 weeks we are very late. Stange, almost everybody I know of must be very late then....

Anyways, the decision was with my wife and she went for the c-section.

Late congratulations! Hope everything is going fine and that baby and mother are both well.

Small remark regarding the 37th week delivery:

It is NOT common that babies are delivered after 37 or even 38 weeks of pregnancy. In fact, a baby is not considered full term until 37 weeks, and most babies are born AFTER 38 weeks. 40 weeks is considered normal pregnancy, and this is also the expected due date. 41 weeks makes it late, but bu no means VERY late.

Once again, congratulations!

[Forethat]

I had my daughter (c-section) at Bumrungrad in Bangkok and it by far exceeded my expectations about what it would like to have a baby in Thailand. I know that many of my family in Australia were shocked and worried (the ones that haven't visited still have preconceived ideas that this is a third world country) but even my mother was impressed with the how everything was dealt with when she arrived for the birth. My mother even went so far as to say that if I were to have another child, that I should definitely have it here in Thailand again (only at the Bumrungrad as the service and care was much higher than many of the top private hospitals back in Australia.

I can't say enough good things about the Bumrungrad, my doctor and nursing staff - and this was not only during and after my pregnancy, but the year before while we were trying to get pregnant in the first place. Our doctor (Fertility Specialist/Gynecologist/Obstetrician) was educated and trained both in Thailand and overseas, spoke fluent english to both my husband and myself - so there were never any issues with language there.

All I can say is, there is no need to worried about birthing in Thailand if you have a doctor and hospital that you are happy and comfortable with

nice hospital,we would all go there if we could . how much for the lot ??

It's unfortunate that some of the women here have had a not so good experience with birth in Thailand but if you find a good hospital and doctor, there is no reason why you shouldn't have the perfect ending to your pregnancy. All I can say is that I would not even think twice about using my doc and the bumrungrad again if I ever got pregnant again.

Bumrungrad is an excellent hospital and well worth the cost (and what we were quoted was exactly what we paid - no hidden extras).

These are the most recent package prices from their website

Normal Vaginal Delivery 42,900 Baht

Normal Vaginal with Epidural 52,900 Baht

C-Section 61,900 Baht

For more info about packages, clinics, docs etc at the Bumrungrad just visit their site

Your quotes in the links you provided are from 2005. I think they've gone up considerably.

The cost for an obstetric package (C-Section) at Bumrungrad is currently 64.900. On top of this, there will be some medicine charges for the mother (antibiotics etc.) and possibly some for the baby. The total cost when my wife gave birth was 67.200.

Overall, we were very impressed with Bumrungrad, both from a medical as well as a social perspective. I am confident we couldn’t have experienced the same fantastic 4 days in my home country.

PS.

As a father, you have the option of ordering “relative food” at the hospital. This could be the only disappointment at this hospital. I suggest the noodle stand in Soi 1, two minutes walk from the hospital just by the 7-eleven. Moo daeng. Make sure it’s the daughter of the family who does the cooking, if it’s the father who cooks make sure you tell him to cook the noodles instead of just briefly dip them in the boiling water. An absolute cracker!!!

DS.

[bkkflyer]

Another strong fan of Bumrungrad Hospital. Had our first child in June (girlfriend Thai) and it was overall an amazingly nice experience at the hospital. In fact we enjoyed it so much we stayed for an extra day to get some more advice and just to enjoy it.

Price was a mentioned 64,900 baht for CS. I think the additional day was around 10,000 extra. In this package price you get the "Standard single room" which was VERY nice (4,5 - 5,0 star hotel standard). They have several room categories, the most expensive being "Royal Suite" around 25,000 baht per day (I think 17,000 - 18,000 more than "Standard single room".

Lots of nice food for proud father down in the restaurants. Very nice pizzas and noddles (moo daeng / moo krob) as well

[YoursTruly]

I had my baby in Chiang Mai last year. I picked my OB long before then and made sure I was comfortable with her. We also went over a birthing plan, which included things like if you want your husband/boyfriend in the room with you. In my experience a lot of doctors will try to push c-sections because it's less time consuming/easier from the doctors perspective, so it's good to be able to communicate with your OB about the things you want or don't want. Obviously there are times when a c-section is necessary, or some people prefer them.

As far as Chiang Mai goes- there are a lot of farangs who come here to have babies. I had a friend who was an nurse in the states be at the hospital with me. She helps out with a lot of farang births, so the doctor and nurses are familiar with her. It was really nice to have someone there who understands western medicine/culture to advocate for me. I didn't like a lot of what the nurses did- they kept trying to massage me and were ignoring a lot of my requests. At the time I wasn't too keen on speaking Thai, and later on a lot of the nurses were making fun of me, right in front of me. These things are bound to happen wherever you go though.

Overall I think I had a pretty good experience. My OB was very good and would recommend her to anyone who will be in Chiang Mai. As far as hospitals I went to Chiang Mai Ram, which was about 60k for a non c-section, including an epidural- which Heck Yes I got. The facility is comfortable and not crowded at all.

[doubledoppelganger]

I had my daughter (c-section) at Bumrungrad in Bangkok and it by far exceeded my expectations about what it would like to have a baby in Thailand. I know that many of my family in Australia were shocked and worried (the ones that haven't visited still have preconceived ideas that this is a third world country) but even my mother was impressed with the how everything was dealt with when she arrived for the birth. My mother even went so far as to say that if I were to have another child, that I should definitely have it here in Thailand again (only at the Bumrungrad as the service and care was much higher than many of the top private hospitals back in Australia.

I can't say enough good things about the Bumrungrad, my doctor and nursing staff - and this was not only during and after my pregnancy, but the year before while we were trying to get pregnant in the first place. Our doctor (Fertility Specialist/Gynecologist/Obstetrician) was educated and trained both in Thailand and overseas, spoke fluent english to both my husband and myself - so there were never any issues with language there.

All I can say is, there is no need to worried about birthing in Thailand if you have a doctor and hospital that you are happy and comfortable with

[doubledoppelganger]

May i ask how much it actually cost to have a baby here in Bangkok? I am thinking that my Thai Fiancee and i would be better off for costs under medicare in Australia, but im not entirely sure?? We really need to work this out ASAP.

[kannon99]

May i ask how much it actually cost to have a baby here in Bangkok? I am thinking that my Thai Fiancee and i would be better off for costs under medicare in Australia, but im not entirely sure?? We really need to work this out ASAP.

Stay in Australia.... she's much better off with their hospital and birthing systems. Way less chance of an unnecessary C-section.

[bkk2323]

Has anybody had experience with St. Louis Hospital? Dr. Petcharat specifically.

My wife is seven months along. We started going to St. Louis just because it was close and doctors/hospitals seem like such a crap shoot anyway. Dr. Petcharat seems ok, but also reports that she and St. Louis are at 50% cesarean. She asked if I thought that was high? (Feeling me out to see if I'd p(l)ay along?) We informed her that we'd prefer natural, and she said we would try that first. I think it's fair to say that it's a coin flip if we go with her, but who knows, maybe she's strongly committed to both respecting our wishes and to keeping our hospital bills down.

Wife started to get significant Braxton Hicks action yesterday (no dilation), so really want to get the doctor question locked up soon.

Actually, now we're in Daokanong. St. Louis is still not far (except during rush hour), but we're still open to change (obviously). Does anybody have recommendations for the Daokanong area? (Realize this is a long shot, have only seen three farang in the two months we've been waaaaay over here on this side of the river.)

Did you go with St Louis, were looking at having our first Baby there....any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks

[gelaman]

Hi everyone,

my wife will be giving birth next week at Nakhonpat hospital in Nakhon si thammarat. C-section as they baby is quite big (farang papa) and she is rather small...

The prices are as follows:

Nakhonpat-1.pdf

Nakhonpat-2.pdf

Maybe someone with good Thai language skills can translate the details.

Good luck to all the future parents here

gelaman

[Yvon]

We had the third child in a private Hospital in Chiang rai. We found a good 'baby doctor' through word of mouth . we visited his clinic a few times and it was packed with expectant mothers, he obviously had a good reputation. the last time we visited the clinic he said the baby was ready. although it was a week early. he made the necessary arrangements. She went into the theatre about ten minutes before I saw the doctor , in training shoes arrive. 30 mins later it was all over , c-section, apendectomy, and sterilisation (which my wife insisted on not me), and her tonsils out. Only kidding about the tonsils. there were loads of staff in the operating theatre, and loads of nurses to take care of her. but the main thing that I could see was absolutely no trauma to the child, she was a nice pink colour and very content. No blue smirf features at all. my wife was then pampered for a night in a private room, with constant attention from the nurses.

I recall it was about 30,000 baht in all, but no contest. and no scar is visable .

Cheers,

Jubby

Hi Jubby,

Can you be more specific about the clinic in Chiang Rai? My daughter wants to have a baby but has problems with her period and all and I am searching for a good place for her to go and get advice?

[BasementCat]

My daughter wants to have a baby but has problems with her period and all and I am searching for a good place for her to go and get advice?

If your daughter is having problems, she should probably need an RE (reproductive endocrinologist) and not a regular obstetrician-gynecologist. You also need a clinic with a good laboratory (not every clinic will check blood for hormones, for example). Tell your daughter to avoid any hormonal drugs prescribed without due examination (it is possible that her ob/gyn will give her drugs without performing any tests just to see "if it works", this could make things worse). And it makes sense for the daughter's partner to be checked as well, maybe the problem is not (or not only) hers. Sorry I don't have any specific advice about Chiang Rai. Good luck.

[may2011]

Hi everyone!!!

I live in ChiangMai and I chose Lanna Hospital for my very first baby. Do u hv any experience with Lanna Hospital?

btw, my due date is mar 1

[Senia]

Hey May

Mine too, my first......... a boy ........ I am having my baby at Thammasat University Hospital everything has been great so far English speaking staff and all, only thing was that they kept repeating, 'he he he boy boy boy" so many times when I really did not want to know my baby's sex beforehand.

Is the father a Thai , we are still trying to figure out a name for him ( baby ) . Papa wanted either William or Lucky Big , I am not calling my child Lucky Big so ....... so far it's William + father's family name, now I need a good and easy Thai name for my son

[may2011]

Hi Senia

Congratulations!!! Mine will be also baby boy. @Lanna , doctor is great but nurses cant speak eng well. a little bit worry for my delivery time as I dont understand what they tell me in thai.

William is a cool name. Me n my hubby also thinking abt baby name.

May

[Senia]

Hi Senia

Congratulations!!! Mine will be also baby boy. @Lanna , doctor is great but nurses cant speak eng well. a little bit worry for my delivery time as I dont understand what they tell me in thai.

William is a cool name. Me n my hubby also thinking abt baby name.

May

Yes me too, I will be discussing that at my next appointment, I am not too sure what is expected of me, to be "checking in" on the first or to wait until I have labour pains.

Everything is ok but because it's a university hospital there are so many students, there were like 7 peeps there when I did my ultrasound, it was a little strange, they were discussing stuff as if I wasn't there, but most of it in English so I understood, "boy, umbilical cord ok, in good place, see see the head here etc ".......finally they gave me my due date, his weight, that he was perfect and healthy from what they saw. That was all I needed to know then.

Dun worry too much , from my experiences in Thai hospitals more often then not, they know what they are doing, also they do tend to take care of foreigners pretty well, from what my Thai friends tell me, I am being treated better than they were.

[Senia]

Hi Senia

Congratulations!!! Mine will be also baby boy. @Lanna , doctor is great but nurses cant speak eng well. a little bit worry for my delivery time as I dont understand what they tell me in thai.

William is a cool name. Me n my hubby also thinking abt baby name.

May

[redfish44]

May i ask how much it actually cost to have a baby here in Bangkok? I am thinking that my Thai Fiancee and i would be better off for costs under medicare in Australia, but im not entirely sure?? We really need to work this out ASAP.

Just in case, will update what I found out recently.

I am 4.5 months pregnant now, and spent about a month in Aus in Jan-Feb.

I can say would be cheaper here via Samitivej in Bangkok, than in Aus under Medicare, as there is a lot they don't cover anymore.

Also, I had a scan in Aus 3 weeks after one here, and in Aus it cost 5 times more than the one I had in Bangkok that was a million types better.

I went to a Benson radiologist in Aus (after having to go to a GP to get the referral and wait days for appointments for each). The radiologist woman was "the baby expert" but I was so bummed as soon as she started, cause it wasn't a patch on Samitivej.

You can get swifter and more professional treatment here, don't need referals, prescriptions blah blah blah. All those things in Aus end up costing a lot more in Medicare gaps than the total here.

Seeing the doctors is a fraction f the price here that it is in Aus too. I don't know if Medicare has a cap, but I rekon you would exceed it if they did.

My doctor here in Bangkok studied at Monash in Melbourne, and has been delivering babies for 28 years in both countries. I am having our baby in Bangers for sure.

The only thing that makes Thailand more complicated is my blood type: O-

This means staying down here in southern Thailand in low season is not a good idea, so we will move up to Bangers for a bit. Apparently can store my blood for the months before, just in case it is needed, which is good to know.

Another Aussie I know from home has had 2 babies at the same hospital, also O-. She also found out the Bangkok hospitals have better World Health Organisation ratings than anything on offer in the city we are from in Aus, which I certainly believe.

[inthepink]

Hello,

My gf is due in late May and we have been going to Lanna Hospital for check-ups but I'm not too keen on her doctor, or the hospital to be honest. The one thing that worries me the most is the Obstetrician stated today that all babies are separated freom their mothers for 6 hours after birth for observation. Eveyrything I've read on the subject suggests that this is the worst thing to do. She claimed it was hospital policy and also government policy.

I find it hard to believe that it is government policy, as all government hospitals in Thailand are supposed to support the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative that includes keeping mother and baby together 24 hours a day.

Does anyone have any knowledge of whether it is normal procedure to keep the baby in a nursery for 6 hours in Thai hospitals? Also, I would be grateful if anybody has any alternative suggestions for a hospital in CM that is more accommodating.

Many Thanks

[kannon99]

Yes, unfortunately most hospitals do separate babies. And 6 hours is nothing compared to the 24 hours of other hospitals!!!

Yes the Baby-Friendly Initiative that hospitals sign is broken by every single one from what I have seen over the years of working with birthing and breastfeeding women. I was not aware that ALL gov't hospitals had signed this.

Women should be able to breastfeed within the first hour and never be separated from the baby. The baby should be allowed to "room in" for this purpose, unlike many hospitals that require women to go down to the nursery themselves if they want to breastfeed. This leads to extremely high rates of formula use.

If you are set on the doctor/hospital then you need to go to the hospital administrator and work out a compromise, including using that Initiative if they have signed it. Also be willing to sign a waiver or have them make one for you to sign that you would not hold them responsible if you refuse to have the baby taken for observation. And really, observation can easily be done in the mothers room and is actually better for baby than sitting in a heating box with no food (they'd give formula! or sugar water!), no holding, and really not all that much observation. Studies show that babies do better in mom's arms than in observation.

K99

[Senia]

Yes, unfortunately most hospitals do separate babies. And 6 hours is nothing compared to the 24 hours of other hospitals!!!

Yes the Baby-Friendly Initiative that hospitals sign is broken by every single one from what I have seen over the years of working with birthing and breastfeeding women. I was not aware that ALL gov't hospitals had signed this.

Women should be able to breastfeed within the first hour and never be separated from the baby. The baby should be allowed to "room in" for this purpose, unlike many hospitals that require women to go down to the nursery themselves if they want to breastfeed. This leads to extremely high rates of formula use.

If you are set on the doctor/hospital then you need to go to the hospital administrator and work out a compromise, including using that Initiative if they have signed it. Also be willing to sign a waiver or have them make one for you to sign that you would not hold them responsible if you refuse to have the baby taken for observation. And really, observation can easily be done in the mothers room and is actually better for baby than sitting in a heating box with no food (they'd give formula! or sugar water!), no holding, and really not all that much observation. Studies show that babies do better in mom's arms than in observation.

K99

I had my baby here last month , and with umbilical cord still attached I had my baby on my tummy immediately after birth. then after the sutures again to breastfeed ( maybe 15-20 mins later ) then 6 hours later ( I didn't know that I had to ask for my baby, no one told me )

evrything else however was shit

[Senia]

yes, all babies were in a cot next to respective mama's after that, huge emphasis on breast feeding

[inthepink]

Thanks for the answers.

Yes, all Thai government hospitals (under the Ministry of Public Health, I don't know if there are any that aren't under this ministry) are supposed to comply with the BFHI, at least according to this article in the Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand: http://books.google....spitals&f=false

We aren't set on this particular hospital but there are only 2 hospitals in CM that are on the list I d/l'd from a website called breastfeedingthai.com (as being breasfeeding friendly), Suan Dawk and Maharaat Nakorn Chiang Mai, both of which are government hospitals as far as I'm aware. I don't think my gf would be that keen on going to a government hospital and apparently it is quite hard to get a space in them (I don't know that for a fact, just what I have heard)....

It's probably something we should have thought about a lot earlier but she has had around 6 miscarriages in the past, all at 3 months (baby's heartbeat just stopped), so I think we have both been expecting something to go wrong and not quite daring to hope that everything would be OK, until fairly recently

Edited April 23, 2011 by inthepink

[kannon99]

Thanks for the answers.

Yes, all Thai government hospitals (under the Ministry of Public Health, I don't know if there are any that aren't under this ministry) are supposed to comply with the BFHI, at least according to this article in the Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand: http://books.google....spitals&f=false

We aren't set on this particular hospital but there are only 2 hospitals in CM that are on the list I d/l'd from a website called breastfeedingthai.com (as being breasfeeding friendly), Suan Dawk and Maharaat Nakorn Chiang Mai, both of which are government hospitals as far as I'm aware. I don't think my gf would be that keen on going to a government hospital and apparently it is quite hard to get a space in them (I don't know that for a fact, just what I have heard)....

It's probably something we should have thought about a lot earlier but she has had around 6 miscarriages in the past, all at 3 months (baby's heartbeat just stopped), so I think we have both been expecting something to go wrong and not quite daring to hope that everything would be OK, until fairly recently

Thanks for that link. Unfortunately, I have yet to see a hospital that compeletely follows this.

I contacted a doula friend of mine in CM and she said that in her opinion the best hospital for natural birth with the best hospital policies is Suan Dawk. She recommends Dr. Supreeya.

[inthepink]

Thanks very much for the recommendation. We have contacted Sri Pat clinic, the private part of Suan Dawk, and they seem a lot more accommodating than Lanna Hospital. Will be going to have a look round later this week and if my gf is happy with everything we will be getting her records from Lanna and waving goodbye to them.

For anyone else that is considering Lanna Hopsital I would definitely advise you to look elsewhere. Apart from the issues I have already mentioned, when we enquired why they had two different birthing packages (one more expensive than the other) for both c-section and natural births, we were informed that you could choose your own room with the more expensive package and that the drugs they used for patients who opted for the cheaper package were inferior (of a lower quality would be an exact translation) !!!

I found this an unbelievable statement for a medical professional to make, and a Thai doctor in another hospital has said that if we had this statement recorded then the hospital would be in big trouble. I'm not going to start a crusade by trying to get them to repeat the statement whilst secretly recording the conversation but I think any expectant mothers in the Chiang Mai area should be aware of the type of people they will be dealing with should they choose this hospital.

Edited April 25, 2011 by inthepink

[inthepink]

Just as a footnote to our experiences with Lanna hospital:

Yesterday we spoke to their head of customer relations who, after consulting with the staff in the nursery, claimed that their 6 hour observation policy was non-negotiable and that they had to do it to get points for hospital accreditation. My gf has spoken to the Thai midwives association this morning and they stated that this is utter nonsense.

Basically, the staff at this hospital have consistently lied about their reasons for the policy they have in place of separating babies from their mothers for 6 hours after the birth, so I can only conclude that they do it in order to justify adding the extra 12-15k baht to the cost of their packages for nursery care, that we were quoted.

Edited April 26, 2011 by inthepink

[Senia]

Just as a footnote to our experiences with Lanna hospital:

Yesterday we spoke to their head of customer relations who, after consulting with the staff in the nursery, claimed that their 6 hour observation policy was non-negotiable and that they had to do it to get points for hospital accreditation. My gf has spoken to the Thai midwives association this morning and they stated that this is utter nonsense.

Basically, the staff at this hospital have consistently lied about their reasons for the policy they have in place of separating babies from their mothers for 6 hours after the birth, so I can only conclude that they do it in order to justify adding the extra 12-15k baht to the cost of their packages for nursery care, that we were quoted.

they lie everywhere, do you know how many women have c- section here because they have "big" babies?

better yet I tell three things that happened at the hospital which to me is bizarre

1. 3 of us were waiting to see the doctor, one thai , one Indian national and myself.

thai lady and myself were heavily pregnant both expecting our babies within days of each other ( hers end Feb, mine 1st week March ) Indian lady says that she is also 8 months but her baby was due 1st week of JULY , we did a quick peek on her hospital record in her hand to verify this.

I just thought Indian lady was either dumb or carrying an elephant

BUT

on my 1 week baby visit , there was the Indian lady with her baby ( due July 1st remember ) , smallish but not a preemie..........???????? 4 months early ???

2. 2 day after delivery, I had already told the doctor's that my butt hurt , I had already expected a tear, but was instead given an episiotomy without my permission and without telling me, but that's ok do what you have to , (17 hours labour , 1 hour delivery ) . the gynae told me "we don't cut that far " her exact words . only for me to go home and discover a huge gaping hole ( 3rd degree laceration) . can you begin to imagine how much pain I was in ?????

3. I did not produce milk until day 2 ( 49 hours after delivery ) , 20 hours after delivery , I discovered that I was not producing any milk, I had to repeatedly buzz the nurse to tell her that my baby had not eaten for that long................ then she produced the bottle for him. imagine if I did not do any reading up and had no clue ..... my poor child would have starved !!!

go private they take care of you better there, but do your homework when baby arrives. I am willing to bet that even at private hospitals they will mess up

[Forethat]

go private they take care of you better there, but do your homework when baby arrives. I am willing to bet that even at private hospitals they will mess up

Go Bumrungrad, I can pretty much guarantee they will give you exactly what you want - and more!

[inthepink]

That sounds really painful Senia and being a man, no I can't imagine how it felt...

Lanna is a private hospital, but it doesn't look like one. We had one final confrontation before we swapped to Suan Dawk. My gf was still undecided (!!) I guess as it is quite late in the day but when we were asking her doctor at Lanna about me being present at the birth, she actually said that the hospital administration discouraged it and if I wanted to be with my gf I would have to make a special request. There was no guarantee that it would be granted and this is for a natural birth, not a c-section!

I just said let's get the records and go, this place is 30 years out of date, and we left.

Suan Dawk seem happy for me to be present even if it is a c-section and they couldn't be more different to the staff at Lanna.

@Forethat - I would have checked out Bumrungrad but I don't think an 8 hour drive is on the cards at this stage.