Moving to Dubai 5 months pregnant

Yep definitely will be hot when you get here! You can book with whichever ob you like, the earlier the better as they tend to get booked up quickly in advance. You can either choose a doctor who is based at the hospital and only delivers there or choose an ob at a clinic who will deliver at their chosen hospital/s. So with the latter, you may want to make sure they deliver at a hospital you are happy with before you register with the doctor. I was originally with City and was very happy with the hospital, the doctor and NICU facilities. Unfortunately my doctor left and I couldn't get an appt with Dr Elsa at City who is pro-natural birth and is highly recommended. Another doctor at the City was leaving and I didn't know anything about the new one who replaced my old doctor. So I looked at other hospitals and narrowed it down to the Welcare and the American. Liked Dr Janaki at the Welcare, very professional and caring. However, I decided to go with Dr Raj at the American as she is pro-natural birth and previously worked at the maternity hospital from my home town in the UK. She has a great sense of humor and really put me at ease. The hospital is also clean and so far all experiences with the admin side of things has been smooth (unusual in Dubai!). Some hospitals are better at the admin side of things than other. I had my DS at Medcare and personally find the admin side an absolute nightmare. But you will find that others had no problems. If you are concerned about NICU facilities then the Welcare is one of the best after the government Al Wasl hospital. I think the American is pretty good too. You will also find very different opinions about the different hospitals and doctors on here - a mixture of slightly inconsistent care at hospitals and different expectations. You just have to follow your instinct and maybe try 2 different obs/hos if your cashflow or insurance allows. Re insurance, you may find that there won't be a waiting period. My DH moved jobs and the new insurance had no waiting period. But it didn't cover the American and also had a limit on maternity care which unhelpfully was too low to cover the costs, so I ended up continuing with my own personal insurance. A lot of insurers won't cover American, I think because it tends to be expensive. So if there is a waiting period or other restrictions, you may have to do some research on the hospital costs as they do vary - you should be able to find what you need on this forum. You can register with the Al Wasl (government) hospital and there are pros and cons to this hospital (do some searches on here as there's a lot of info about it), for example, excellent NICU facilities but appts don't always run on time and DH not allowed into labour room. You also have to register and again, not sure how but not particularly easy I gather. I'd try and book in now as most good obs you may have to wait 5 weeks for an appt, particularly with people like Dr Elsa. Good luck with the move if you do end up coming out here :)

Congrats on moving over here Glowkat. It will be awfully hot when you get here if you haven't ever been here before... and being pregnant during summer ain't all that much fun! But everything is airconditioned well so you should be right ;) Just be sure to carry a water bottle with you when you go out so you don't dehydrate. I had my LO at City hospital and loved it. he was in NICU too and that was all good. Dr Yula? is meant to be very good ... Dr Elsa is awesome but she is one very busy Obst/gyn so if you wanted to book with her I suggest you ring now and try to make an appointment for when you move here. Dr Salihi is also lovely, she is based on Al Wasal Road and delivers at American. 2 friends delivered their babies at American and are going back there with their 2nds ... they were very happy with the hospital. I think they have also had a new maternity area built too (need that confirmed though?) As for your health insurance there was no waiting period from what I know of. We moved in March 2009 and I fell prengnant in October that year and everything was covered. Only thing that wasnt was DH in NICU and that was only because he didn't have a health insurance card yet. We just paid it and then claimed it back. I totally hear you re starting over in a new place = especially when pregnant but they have very good facilities at either hospital and there are plenty of good obsts around - if you search on here there will be loads of threads about who to go with. All the best with the move!