Sumitivej Vs Bumrungrad For Birth?

[babyinbangkok]

Wife and I are both farang and wife is currently 35 weeks pregnant.

We traveled to Bangkok to have our baby. We chose Sumitivej as we have previous surgerical experience with them. It was a great experience.

We were in talks with the international staff via email and (due to various personal reasons I will not get into) was told my wife having a planned section or induction would be fine. My wife has now had two appointments with her doctor and is a tad upset.

First, for both appointments she had to wait between 1.5 and 2 hours just to be seen by the doctor. At certain times the waiting room was so busy she had to stand as there was no where to sit. She was supposed to dicuss packages with the nurse after the first appointment (which was at night) but was told the nurse was too busy and she should do it some other day.

Second, for the first appointment she was rushed around and the doctor barely took any history and said they could have a long talk at the next appointment (ok, busy happens right?).

Third, for the second appointment the doctor literally talked to her for five minutes before rushing her out the door as he had another patient waiting (his office is two rooms and he put my wife in his office and the other patient in the exam room). So, she was unable to ask any questions or talk to him indepth.

Lastly, my wife was able to quickly bring up that she needs to sign up for one of the birth packages but was unable to as she needed to talk to him about induction vs. c-section and he acted horribly confused (as if the international staff told him nothing) and told her doing either was impossible and she really needed to talk to me about which package we wanted.

My wife is frustrated but I was unable to be at the appointments. I will be at the next one so hopefully we can work things out. However, if we cannot we have started to look at other possible hospitals and doctors. 

So, anyone have good/bad experiences at either two of these hospitals regarding birth sepcifically? 

I am thinking after this next appointment if things are not satisfactorialy settled I should go talk with the international staff and get a new doctor? We were told everything was fine, but now with the doctor we are told it is not (for no medical reason, as the doctor has not even sat down and had a full chat or exam with my wife; he did an ultrasound and ordered some blood tests but that is it).

And is this normal for prenatal care at Samitivej? Being rushed around and not given an actual appointment (as in no time to ask questions), having to wait over an hour to be seen, and having a confused doctor who seems to be too busy and scattered?

[onnut]

I noticed you did not mention the BNH hospital. I cant comment on the other two as I have never been to either of them. My wife gave birth in the BNH and we were both very happy with the service we recieved before the birth, the actual birth and after up until nw, we will be using the BNH again for our next child whenever that may be.

if you would like to know more about the doctors we used please feel free to PM me and I will forward details to you.

good luck

[emma08]

I gave birth at Samitivej and had a fantastic delivery. The staff was always wonderful, pre and post delivery, and I never had to wait for too long to see my Dr. unless he was delivering a baby. However, I had another friend who didn't have a good experience with a C-Section (different Dr.). This Dr. didn't even allowed the dad to go into the OR with her. I was originally going to BNH and I've heard good things about them with C-Sections. But I wanted a natural birth and it seemed to me that Samitivej was better prepared for this kind of delivery. I also felt very confident with my Dr. which I think its primordial. good luck with everything and congratulations for the baby.

[babyinbangkok]

I noticed you did not mention the BNH hospital.

I had forgotten about them, thank you!

I gave birth at Samitivej and had a fantastic delivery. The staff was always wonderful, pre and post delivery, and I never had to wait for too long to see my Dr. unless he was delivering a baby.

My previous experience was wonderful, which is why I am so shocked. SMy wife let the first appointment wait slide, things happen you know? But when the second appointment's wait was longer and the doctor rushing her in and out seems ot be setting a pattern. 

However, I had another friend who didn't have a good experience with a C-Section (different Dr.). This Dr. didn't even allowed the dad to go into the OR with her. I was originally going to BNH and I've heard good things about them with C-Sections.

Thank you, we will be looking at BNH.

good luck with everything and congratulations for the baby.

Thank you!

[ctira]

My first child was born at Samitivej. The second one was born at Bumrungrad. Both by natural birth.

I think they are equally good. Their package is about the same. Just think of best location for your wife if she HAS TO GO.

The only thing that seems to be the problem at both hospitals is...the doctors. If you choose female OB/GYN chances are you will have to wait a looonnnggg time before getting to see your doc. If your wife is OK to have a male OB doctor, go for it. Mine is a male and I never have to wait more than 15 minutes to get checked out (Thai women are very genderphobic when it comes to OB doctors. That's why female doctors are always booked).

That's my two cents.

[theseahorse]

I'm suprised to hear this about Samitivej, myself and everyone I have know who has used Samitivej for the birth of their child has nothing but praise for the place.

When my wife first discovered she was pregnant we went to Bumrungrad, just because we'd used them before (although we were never happy with them in the past!) but after having the same issues you mention with Samitivej, but at Bumrungrad, we moved over to Samitivej and couldn't fault anyone we delt with throughout the whole process.

My wife had a female OB who we never had to wait longer than 15 minutes to see and who also had a very good 'bedside' manner, which is one of Bumrungrads biggest faults. We've lived in Asia long enough to understnd how blunt the culture can be at times, but for a hospital that charges so much and aims itself at westerners, Bumrungrad really needs to learn some compassion when talking to patience about problems.

Also, Samitivej was much more father friendly. At all the appointments the OB spoke to both of us rather than ignoring myself as if it was nothing to do with me and it was certainly never a question whether I was going to be there for the birth or not. I quite rightly had to be there, the same as my wife had to be there. I'm very suprised to hear the comment about the father not being allowed in, this goes against Samitivej's birthing rooms are set up for.

I've also been told that BNH are very good, some friends recently gave birth there and said they were great. But I've never used them for anything myself.

Good luck, where ever you go.

[babyinbangkok]

The only thing that seems to be the problem at both hospitals is...the doctors. If you choose female OB/GYN chances are you will have to wait a looonnnggg time before getting to see your doc. If your wife is OK to have a male OB doctor, go for it. Mine is a male and I never have to wait more than 15 minutes to get checked out (Thai women are very genderphobic when it comes to OB doctors. That's why female doctors are always booked).

Her doctor is male, and she has had to wait over an hour at each appointment so far. From what she saw she was lucky as there were other women who had been waiting even longer than her, but she may have been bumped ahead as she was more pregnant? We will meet with him one more time and a doctor at Bumrungrad and another at BNH and see what happens. 

Thank you for the information!

[babyinbangkok]

I'm suprised to hear this about Samitivej, myself and everyone I have know who has used Samitivej for the birth of their child has nothing but praise for the place.

This is why I am here, as I was shocked too! I had heard great things and we have previous surgical experience with them and they were great. As my wife says, she was willing to chalk up the first appointment to a fluke but when a similar experience happened on the second she became concerned. I listen to her because she is so close to giving birth and I do not want any road bumps we could have prevented stressing her out.

Also, Samitivej was much more father friendly. At all the appointments the OB spoke to both of us rather than ignoring myself as if it was nothing to do with me and it was certainly never a question whether I was going to be there for the birth or not. I quite rightly had to be there, the same as my wife had to be there. I'm very suprised to hear the comment about the father not being allowed in, this goes against Samitivej's birthing rooms are set up for.

Her experience thus far has been several people ignoring her as a person and telling her she needs to talk to me, as if my opinion is worth more than hers-- which is weird! And we were told if she has a planned section I would not be allowed in, as it was hospital policy. Odd!

I've also been told that BNH are very good, some friends recently gave birth there and said they were great. But I've never used them for anything myself.

Good luck, where ever you go.

We are going to check them out too.

Thank you!

[WhiteShrek]

Bumrungrad excellent. Samitvej OK. BNH wouldn't go there for anything even if it was a matter of life or death - literally.

[babyinbangkok]

Bumrungrad excellent. Samitvej OK. BNH wouldn't go there for anything even if it was a matter of life or death - literally.

Any particular reason you do not like BNH? 

[WhiteShrek]

Bumrungrad excellent. Samitvej OK. BNH wouldn't go there for anything even if it was a matter of life or death - literally.

Any particular reason you do not like BNH?

You did ask for experiences:

Let's just say very bad personal first hand exerience from BNH, which I would never wish on anyone. Opened with poor attitude, telling us "we wouldn't get a better deal". This was our first baby for Buddha's sake, and not some deal on a new TV. Then rapidly detiorated with misdiagnosis of possible complications, unnecessary expensive tests, late results, followed by weeks of worry and despair etc etc.

We went to Bumrungrad for a second opinion and never looked back. We could never have been happier. Their only drawback for some people in my view is price. There are hundreds of things I could forego in life though, if it meant saving money to be able to pay for excellent care for my wife, kids and family.

Bottom line if you're not entirely happy it's worth a couple of thousand baht for a second opinion, and keep getting them until you find someone you trust. Maybe we were just "unlucky" at BNH, but I would never put myself in a siuation where I needed to trust BNH again. Bangkok has plenty of good hospitals so why bother...

Edited September 11, 2009 by WhiteShrek

[kannon99]

I've gone through 3 pregnancies with Samitivej. The only times wait times were awful were Saturdays and Sundays. Perhaps choose a weekday mid-morning when there is more time for discussion.

Samitivej's policy is for a support person (father, friend, or doula) to be with mother at all times. This is part of their mother-friendly certification. And as for induction or cesarean, they are really trying to stop medically unnecessary inductions and cesareans, which may be why there is some confusion.

The 3 most popular doctors at Samitivej are Sankiat, Nisarat, and Yaowalak. They do most of the births and have the best outcomes.

[Goinghomesoon]

After problems with my ob/gyn at BNH I moved to Bumrungrad to Dr Chartchai Srisombut. I've not had a pregnancy but for fertility-related surgery and other bits & bobs. I would be perfectly comfortable with him attending to me. He has a lovely bedside manner and all appointments were in two languages, he would speak to me in English and then translate into Thai for hubby.

Several friends and colleagues have used Dr Nopadol Saropala for natural birth at Bumrungrad. He works fulltime at Bumrungrad (5 full weekdays and half days on weekends) so had lots of appointment times. They seem happy with him.

[CWMcMurray]

Which Samitivej are you refering to?

My wife just had our second child at Samitivej Srinakarin Hospital and had a woderful experience and never felt rushed. The Dr. was very good at explaining anything and everything and we never felt rushed at time time throughout the entire 9 month process.

We only had one long wait through out the nine months (about 1.5 hrs, but doctoro explained that she had an emergency C-section and was still in scrubs, so no biggy)

Samitivej Srinakerin is also very well known for their childrens hospital. I have nothing but good things to say about both the OB GYN during the pregnancy and the Children's hospital where we take our 2 yr old daughter for all of her medical needs.

Edited September 14, 2009 by CWMcMurray

[Niranut]

I've gone through 3 pregnancies with Samitivej. The only times wait times were awful were Saturdays and Sundays. Perhaps choose a weekday mid-morning when there is more time for discussion.

The 3 most popular doctors at Samitivej are Sankiat, Nisarat, and Yaowalak. They do most of the births and have the best outcomes.

Agree with all of the above. I also came in from another province and had one of my three with Dr. Sankiat at Samitivej. My first visit with him was on a Saturday morning and it was a zoo. Had to wait ages, but he did take all the time he needed and answered all of my questions and what have you.

I discovered that the best way to go with Dr. Sankiat was to schedule for his first appointment of the day (on a weekday), which is 8:20. He gets in around 8:00 and if you get there at 8, he'll see you right away, even it's before 8:20. Plenty of time with him and the nurses, as the waiting room is literally empty at 8 and just filling up by the time you're done. No problems at all. I used him for some prenatal for a subsequent pregnancy and this sign-up-for-the-earliest-appointment strategy worked great then, as I would leave home at 6am, drive in and see him right away and go about my day.

I would suggest trying another doctor at Samitivej (and getting there bright and early) to see how things go.

Edited September 14, 2009 by Niranut

[paulfr]

Well for what its worth, these three hospitals are most often mentioned by

farangs, but there are many other good hospitals too.

You will probably cut your costs in half if you go to St Louis Hospital

near the Surasak BTS station down in lower Satorn.

Very modern and some excellent doctors.

It is worth a visit or a call to set up an appt with an OB.

Good luck

[babyinbangkok]

Just a quick update. First, my wife did go on a weekday first thing in the morning apppointment and still had to wait. The doctor was always rushed and was always confused about her being his patient.

We made consult appointments with BNH and Bum and decided we would also try out a different Sum doctor. But, after the BNH OBGYN consult we went with them.

My wife signed up for a "painfree birth" and ended up having a natural birth with no epidural as she progressed so quickly. We were interested in seeing how this would be reflected on the bill (no epidural is cheaper), but we did not even have to ask as they automatically lowered the cost to the non-pain med birth.

The bill was completely straight forward; myself, my wife's sister, and our older son were all there (in room) for the birth; and the doctor and nurses were all supportive and had my wife lead the timing. She even had a medical problem during the birth but everyone worked together to do what was best for mother and child-- a section was never even brought up (except to say they would avoid it at all cost).

We had a great experience and our son is doing great and my wife is happy and up and feeling great too. 

We really appreciate the feedback of everyone, it did help us! 

[kannon99]

Who was your OB at BNH?

[MickeyM]

Well for what its worth, these three hospitals are most often mentioned by

farangs, but there are many other good hospitals too.

You will probably cut your costs in half if you go to St Louis Hospital

near the Surasak BTS station down in lower Satorn.

Very modern and some excellent doctors.

It is worth a visit or a call to set up an appt with an OB.

Good luck

Agreed; I switched from the busy/factory like operations at Bumrumgrad and BNH to St. Louis and am very happy with their services (at 25-50% less cost).