Cost Of C-Section For A Non-Thai In A Public Hospital In Bangkok?

[manonthemon]

Hello,

Me and my GF are expecting a baby soon.

My GF has a condition called Placenta Previa so she has to have a CS. And it might end up beeing a nasty one, with blood transfusion and aditional surgery.

We checked the prices in a few private hospitals ans found birth packages from arund 29.000B (Kluaynamthai Hospital) to over 80.000B (Samitivej etc).

It's harder to learn the prices of the packages in public hospitals as we dont speak Thai. The only thing we found out is that a C-section in Rajaviti Hospital (Victory Monument) is 20.000B.

But all the quoted prices are for standrd procedures. I have no Idea how much we will be charged i sth goes wrong. I've read horror stories about private institutions charging extensively for anything outside the package.

Any idea what to expect form a public hospital?

We recently did end up in Rajaviti emergency room for one night (my GF started bleeding) and one night in a common room, a few tests and not much attention form the nurses (they were kind of scared to talk to my GF, I'm guessing because of the language barrier?) cost,ed us 3500B. I couldn't even enter the ward, we had to wait for the doctor for hours and hours and it was all pretty confusing and stressing.

Thanx in advance for any information,

[Sheryl]

There is no way to estimate the cost of treating complications that may arise as there is an wide range of possible scenarios with very different treatment implications. This will be true at any type of hospital i.e. the quotes you got from private hospitals on c-section are a drop in the bucket of what costs will be if there are complications.

What you can be sure of is that a public hospital will cost around 1/4 what a private one would. And also that communication will be an issue, as will cultural factors i.e. Thai doctors tend not to provice much if any explanation of what is being done and why, and are unfamiliar with the idea of husbands/BFs being actively involved. These factors plus language barrier may be quite frightening if things start going wrong. This is probably the biggest advantage to going private; while doctors there will also be Thai it is possible to select ones that have had training and experience in the West and are thus acculturated tio Western expectations in terms of communication, husband/BF involvment etc.

The quality of the care will be good in a opublic hospital (assuming it is a sufficiently high level public hospital, see below) but communication with patient and family will be scanty.

Whether private or public, given that this is a high risk birth, it is essential that you choose a hospital with a well equipped neonatal intensive care unit (NIC). Among public hospitals this narrows it down to the big ones affiliated with universities e.g. Chulalonghorn or Siriraj.

And, you should choose one close to where you are staying as it is essential she reach the hospital as quickly as possible if labor starts or there is any pre-labor bleeding.

[manonthemon]

Thank You! This is one of the most helpful posts I've ever read on this forum!

regerds!

[SteeleJoe]

There is no way to estimate the cost of treating complications that may arise as there is an wide range of possible scenarios with very different treatment implications. This will be true at any type of hospital i.e. the quotes you got from private hospitals on c-section are a drop in the bucket of what costs will be if there are complications.

What you can be sure of is that a public hospital will cost around 1/4 what a private one would. And also that communication will be an issue, as will cultural factors i.e. Thai doctors tend not to provice much if any explanation of what is being done and why, and are unfamiliar with the idea of husbands/BFs being actively involved. These factors plus language barrier may be quite frightening if things start going wrong. This is probably the biggest advantage to going private; while doctors there will also be Thai it is possible to select ones that have had training and experience in the West and are thus acculturated tio Western expectations in terms of communication, husband/BF involvment etc.

The quality of the care will be good in a opublic hospital (assuming it is a sufficiently high level public hospital, see below) but communication with patient and family will be scanty.

Whether private or public, given that this is a high risk birth, it is essential that you choose a hospital with a well equipped neonatal intensive care unit (NIC). Among public hospitals this narrows it down to the big ones affiliated with universities e.g. Chulalonghorn or Siriraj.

And, you should choose one close to where you are staying as it is essential she reach the hospital as quickly as possible if labor starts or there is any pre-labor bleeding.

Not for the first time it strikes me how incredibly fortunate users of this site are to have a contributor like Sheryl.

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