All pregnancies should be registered at Al Wasl?? Is this correct?

Lemondrops, thanks for posting your response. I was late joining this thread and was about to say something similar but you summarised the issue very well. Unfortunately the healthcare system here is not integrated and all mothers *should* register at AW in case they should face serious complications in the future. In an ideal world, private hospitals would have referral agreements with govt ones but that is not the case. I posted on this issue a couple of years ago when AW first started refusing women who were not registered. There may have been some subtle changes since, but here is my initial post. HTH. "I thought I would draw your attention to some recent changes to maternity in Dubai. Government hospitals are no longer obliged to take on high risk cases from private hospitals. You need to register with them in order to access their specialist care. As many of you know, private hospitals focus mainly on low risk deliveries. The vast majority of births fall into this category and these hospitals do an excellent job at handling them. But high risk births (e.g. very premature labour or babies needing surgery upon delivery) need to go to Al Wasl or Dubai Hospital. These units have NICUs capable of handling very early babies and staff experienced in advanced neonatal care. AH also have a NICU but its high cost is often not covered by insurance companies. Until recently, mums registered at private hospitals were automatically transferred to AW or DH if the need arose. AW often admitted women who arrived in very premature labour. They were obliged to take them on regardless of whether they had received antenatal care at AW. Unfortunately, the growth of Dubai has put a lot of pressure on govt hospitals. This culminated in January this year when 2 babies tragically died from a rare bacterial outbreak in the NICU at AW. The reason for this was overcrowding. As result, AW and DH revised their admission policy. They decided to restrict access to women previously registered with them. Alarming as it may sound, this means that they CAN and WILL turn away a woman in very premature labour if there is no room available. This recently happened to a friend of mine whose baby stopped responding at 30 weeks. Medcare could not handle such an early baby so sent her to AW. They turned her away as she was not registered with them and there were no spare beds available. She was eventually admitted to DH after literally begging them. They were ready to send her to Abu Dhabi or Al Ain but changed their minds. Thankfully all went well, and her baby is now at home after an emergency cs and a month-long hospital stay. But she was lucky as there have been reports of much sadder outcomes. So the message to all mums-to-be out there is that if you have ANY worries whatsoever about your baby arriving early or requiring high risk care then you should register at your local govt hospital. In my view, private OBs should warn ALL women about this but do not appear to be doing so consistently. Based on what I have seen, high risk mums seem to know about the need to register at AW or DH. But all expectant mums run a small risk of requiring specialist care. My friend was not officially classed as high risk and assumed that she would be ok with Medcare. It is also worth noting that a single registration appointment is not enough. You need to have ALL antental tests at a govt hospital as they will not accept records from a private unit. Onerous as it may sound, having two lots of antenatal care is not as much trouble as you may think. I did this for my first baby and it just meant a few extra appointments. So ultimately it's down to the mum in question, but personally I am a worst-case-scenario type of girl and I wouldn't take any chances." ETA: The antenatal package now costs AED5000. This may seem a lot, but is less than the cost of one day in a private nicu (something like AED8000 whereas it costs somewhere between AED2000 and AED3000 at AW). And remember that certain private nicus simply cannot handle very early babies or those requiring surgery. So, as Lemondrops says, it's worth considering it as you would car insurance. Hopefully you will not need to use it but you will be very grateful to ahve it should the need arise. I am having my 3rd child in December and I will be delivering at AW for the 3rd time. Wishing you all safe and happy deliveries. KB x

I was a low risk pregnancy... until my waters broke at 30 weeks. Thankfully I was registered at Al Wasl and I delivered my pre-term baby there. I also know of many mothers who had low risk pregnancies, developed complications or had preterm deliveries but were able to deliver at Al Wasl by the grace of God. Al Wasl didn't have to accept them as they weren't registered, but thank goodness they did, because it could have ended quite differently for them and their LOs. I would think of the registration fee as one would car insurance. You certainly wouldn't want to be driving around without one, even if you think it's unlikely you'll be caught out in an accident. Why wouldn't you want a similiar safety net for your most valuable cargo? It is true that several hospitals have NICU's that can accommodate you at 30 weeks plus (I think American and Welcare are the only ones that can take you in even earlier), but if you have no insurance you're looking at a bill in the hundreds of thousands as opposed to the tens of thousands Al Wasl would cost you. Something you also need to factor in. <em>edited by lemondrops on 03/08/2011</em>

As Shaf says, if you are a high risk pregnancy then yes, it is suggested you register with al Wasl. I was 8 weeks pregnant with my second when this all started and I have to say, I found it very "Dubai" that the same time all pregnant woman are told to register at Al Wasl is the same time al Wasl decided to double their prices. Call me synical. Of course we all want to have a safe delivery for mum and bubs , that goes without saying. But I just think it's all another way to get our money. Ok, off on a tangent there but basically, discuss it with your OBS and see what he/she feels.

If u are not a high risk pregnancy, u dont really have to register with al wasl.. Talk to your doctor and figure out if u really need to or not.

There are several NICUs around the city that accept babies way before 37 weeks. Welcare NICU can handle babies born around 26-27 weeks; I'm not sure what the specifics of the NICU at City are -- but I'd recommend asking your doctor. People have recommended that if you have a high risk pregnancy to register at Al-Wasl which seems to have the best NICU and can accept babies I think as early as 24 weeks.