NICU Costs in Dubai - A Premature Delivery Question | ExpatWoman.com
 

NICU Costs in Dubai - A Premature Delivery Question

20
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 27 March 2011 - 12:08

Hi
I conceived my twin girls via IVF last year and was expecting a May 2011 delivery. My IVF doctor, Dr Pankaj at Conceive (who I loved btw) told me to go to Al Wasl as they had the best NICU and preterm labour is a risk for twins. He had been seeing us for the first 3 months, but after that he told us we needed to find a hospital for delivery.
Though I was not happy at the prospect of going to Al WAsl, we got registered there as they do not accept registrations after a certain time into the pregnancy. I had to skip work for appointments and scans, and each time we saw a different doctor, which really annoyed me. In short, I was not very happy with the care I received.

However, at 28 weeks, I felt slight pain and decided to go to the ER. It turned out I was in labour and gave birth to my twin girls at 28 weeks. They were rushed to the NICU and have been there since then. It been more than a month, and its been hard to be away from them...
The elder twin was 1.1 kg at birth, and is doing well now. She is gaining weight and should be released from the hospital once she reaches 1.8 kg.
The younger twin was 0.94kg at birth and is still on the ventilator. She also had an infection so we are more worried about her.

The cost of NICU is from AED 3900 for ICU to AED 2200 for normal care at AlWasl.
Once we realized we were in for the long haul, my husband spoke to his insuarnce company but they only cover AED 50K at this stage. He can apply for the next tier of coverage, which covers more in April, but it wont be applicable on the girls' NICU bill.
My insurance company refused to cover the girls till they are discharged from the NICU.

So my worry is paying the NICU bill. We estimate the costs to be around AED 200,000.
Has anyone had any experience with this sort of thing in Dubai? Do you know if AlWasl offers payment options like installments or something to parents?

I am very happy with the NICU though, and I am glad that I chose AlWasl in the end, because it was the right choice for the babies. The staff and care is amazing, and from what I have seen, the cheapest in Dubai for NICU care.

Thanks.

1100
Posts
EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 28 March 2011 - 17:04
Just thought I'd add, if you can't sort out a payment plan you could contact Hayati medical loans, they may be able to lend the money to you and you pay it back in installments. http://www.hayatihealthcare.com/
494
Posts
EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 28 March 2011 - 04:14
Our LO was in NICU for 5 days in City hospital and the bill was approx 24,000 aed which we had to pay before leaving the hospital. If our insurance had been worked out for him before we had left then we wouldn't have paid any of it but we had to pay and claim back. If you can get your insurance sorted for the girls ASAP that may help. Good luck.
20
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 27 March 2011 - 23:45
Can you tell me what kind of installments? Were they flexible to your amount/frequency? Also was anything waived off in terms of cost...like a discount? :) How long was your babyin NICU? Its been more than a month for my girls and it seems so long...
3
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 27 March 2011 - 14:25
Hi Tania520 I had my baby girl at 31 weeks in city hospital the daily cost there was 8,000 AED and my insurance company had only agreed to pay 10,000 AED, which was absolutely ridiculous! so we had to get a transfer to Al wasl where we paid 2,200 a day. When my DD was discharged we explained to the admin team that we were unable to pay the full charge as we had already taken a big loan to pay city hospital and they agreed for us to pay in installments. your best bet will be to go see the social worker there and explain your situation and they will then be able to come up with a payment plan/discount accordingly. hope this helps, and all the best with the twins
1
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 27 March 2011 - 13:02
No sure, will ask a friend i think she had her twin girls at Al Wasl a few years ago. If you need to chat about having baby in NICU happy to, i had my little girl at 24weeks and she was 520g. Those days in the unit are quite a rollercoaster, but those little ones are such fighters so hang in there.
341
Posts
EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 27 March 2011 - 12:28
I have not idea sorry, but why dont you post it under the Pregnancy, Babies & Toddlers section?. I really hope your girls recover soon!.
 
 

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