Antenatal and maternity packages?

To Dangerous Blonde - ahhh thankyou so much - its really nice to know I'm not the only one and its good to know that its what happens here so I can change my expectations. I thought that by going to the hospital I was going to get a more indepth service but it seems its better with community care.....maybe I should consider the local gyny. Really sorry to hear about your miscarriage but congrats on this pregnancy:) I'll head over to city tmrw but seems that service will be similar at City anyway ehh? Thanks Emily, you're definitely a pro, having had 3! You're right, it is personal preference....I'll have a nose around both first then decide whether its worth switching. That's really helped thankyou! Max

Hi there are plenty of good hospitals in Dubai and I'm sure you will find one to suit your needs. Everyone is different and only you can make this decision. Personally, I had 3 babies at Latifa (despite having private insurance) as I wanted to be in *the* high risk maternity hospital. I was very happy every time. But most ppl in my posiiton would probably have chosen AH, Welcare or City. The only places I would specifically *not* go to are smaller hospitals like Medcare and IMH which do not have good nicus. Hth x

Hi, my name's Max and I'm 7weeks pregnant too:) I'm going to go along to th open session at City Hosptial tmrw to have a look around. I have already had my first scan at American Hospital and I'm not sure whether to stay with them with my first experience......let me explain a bit.... .....as a new first timer, the news of motherhood has come as a shock (even though it was sort of planned) and from seeing the local GP here and seeing recommendations, I booked a first appointment at American Hosp with Dr Nasreen that has excellent recommendations. I got there very early on my own (hubby was away) and slowly got more and more panicky in the waiting room as I saw lotsa new mums with babies/heavily pregnant women etc.....thought I'd be fine on my own with these things but obviously not! Mistake one learnt- lol! Go with a mate! The nurse called me in and didn't take the blood pressure correctly/forgot my weight/ etc and then went through a list of standard questions on family history etc. but it felt quite impersonal getting questions fired at me, with no response/reactions but silence. There was another lady in the waiting room that had wanted to see Dr Nasreen in between appts so I was then left waiting for 10mins until she came to see me....stress level rising.. When she arrived Dr Nasreen seemed nice, and calm and said who she was, took me to a different room and told me what we would be doing (internal scan and a chat beforehand) and she was pretty good....however she answered 3 mobile phone calls whilst in my appointment (even though she told them to call back/ chat at lunch).....one of which was as she lubed up the probe....yikes! I had told her I was a first timer and was feeling nervous about being there etc. The scan was fine, and she was gentle and made me feel comfortable. I'm a little at odds, as some things didn't go well because I felt out of control and the team there didn't seem very in control or interested. Other things like the mobile - I will tell her next time to not answer unless in emergency. I don't feel she looked at my notes before seeing me, and so issues with my blood pressure/thyroid etc was news to her. I'm of a mixed opinion.....I was hoping to start to build a relationship with a gyny and that she would be equally interested in knowing about me and talking about how I was, if I'd been suffering any symptoms and offering advice...but maybe its early days and I'll get more info at next scan etc. She did advice about what not to eat and to stay away from my cat...poo leo! She also sed about what happens next regarding blood tests and scans. I came away a bit tearful but a bit of comfort food/sleep/ chat to best mate has helped. I'm going to look around at both facilities, AH and City. I've had a lot of good reviews about both places, and the AH seems pretty good overall and I don't think they'll do a bad job. Its difficult to judge how much emotional support I was expecting and how much realistically give here in Dubai and probably realise now that I need to rely on friends/ family more? Or should I try a different gyny? Can't decide quite where it went a bit wrong to be honest..... Sorry to hog a space on this thread, thought some of this may be of use to aimee or someone reading it and thought it'd help airing this..I feel better already -heheee! 'had a bit of an hormonal wobble' Max ;):)

I gave birth at City 2 weeks ago with Dr Elsa, can not praise her enough! Total cost inclusive of epidural AED14500 and i didn't have insurance. I was with Dr Britt who was fab but changed from City to Healthbay (around 24 weeks) for the antenatal care because is was midwife led and I knew the midwife who would be looking after me and she was fantastic. I found for my first baby I got far more from the midwife, she was able to spend lots of time with me and answer all my (endless) questions. Good luck!

Medcare is good but not the best option, I delivered there 7 weeks ago, and for my next baby I would prefer City hospital or American. I believe City hospital packages are about the same as Medcare, whereas American hospital is definitely more expensive, I went to Medcare only because my insurance covered it. My antenatal appointments went well, usually had quite a wait but I had an ultrasound every appointment which I liked so I could see LO. My delivery was smoothe, epidural worked like a charm and the care after was good too. Basically I wasnt happy with them due to their horrible pediatrician who made us stay an extra day to make money off us. <em>edited by sourskittleashnut on 03/09/2012</em>

I would never ever consider going back to Medcare for anything let alone for my next pregnancy. I had a horrid experience and if you want to know more in detail send me your email address and I can email you.