# Having a baby in Dubai - any recommendations?



## Montreux (May 12, 2015)

Hi all,

we will move to Dubai end of July for 9 month for business reasons (husband) and we are coming as a growing family (1 Toddler 2 1/2 years, baby due to end of November). As we have never been in Dubai before I would appreciate some recommendations in general as well as good hospitals for the delivery, which I will contact for details once we are in Dubai.

We will live in Al Barsha area in a serviced hotel appartment and will keep our swiss health insurance, they will cover the pregnancy eyamonations as well as the delivery at a public or private hospital of my choice in Dubai.

Is there anything I should take into consideration concerning the birth preparartion, delivery and aftercare which could be different in Dubai (I got my first baby in Switzerland)?

All experiances and recommendations are welcome! Thanks
Montreux


----------



## w_man (Apr 16, 2010)

We had ours in the Mediclinic City Hospital and we were quite happy with the doctors, nurses, delivery and the service.

Our friends had their baby in the American Hospital and they were also very happy with their experience. 

You can do tours of the rooms and facilities for most of the hospitals. My wife went around and looked at both hospitals listed above and decided on City but that was probably also because her Ob Gyn doctor was in City so we decided to deliver there because she wanted a specific doctor in City.


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

City Hospital and Medcare at Safa Park are both hugely popular. Remember, however, that many gynaes do not practice at the hospitals they deliver at. You need to be looking for a good gynae first and foremost. The gynae will tell you their preferred hospital generally.


----------



## Montreux (May 12, 2015)

Thanks so far for the replies! 

Any suggestions how to find a good gynae in Dubai? I thought there will be only the possibility to see a gynae in a hospital, as they all offer prenatal examinaten packages (scans, ultrasounds etc.)? Was not aware that they also practice outside hospitals...


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

Montreux said:


> Thanks so far for the replies! Any suggestions how to find a good gynae in Dubai? I thought there will be only the possibility to see a gynae in a hospital, as they all offer prenatal examinaten packages (scans, ultrasounds etc.)? Was not aware that they also practice outside hospitals...


Very much so. There have been numerous threads on this subject. I will kick off with one recommendation - Getrud Koster. My suggestion is do your homework. Choose your gynae and then the gynae will help you sort where you deliver. Be aware, for some reason here, most women seem to opt for C-sections to deliver.


----------



## Mr Rossi (May 16, 2009)

BedouGirl said:


> Be aware, for some reason here, most women seem to opt for C-sections to deliver.


Because it costs 10k more than natural and they get "upsold"

Going through it now, it's a nightmare.


----------



## Gavtek (Aug 23, 2009)

We had ours at Al Zahra Hospital in Al Barsha, as did our friends. We were both really happy with the service and care, plus the hospital is usually fairly empty so you get the full focus of all the nurses on the ward.

We also both used Dr Lina at Emirates Hospital's Marina branch, and both deliveries were c-sections (ours was medically required for sure). Again, I'd recommend. She can be a bit abrupt sometimes, but when it came to the delivery, she definitely made us feel like we were in safe hands and had the full medical team under clear instruction during the delivery.


----------



## Windsweptdragon (Aug 12, 2012)

We went through Dr. Oksuz at Healthbay Polyclinic and the delivery was at American Hospital. 

Would definitely recommend Dr. Oksuz, she was great and with us through every step, right up until the 4:00 am delivery. 

It was our first child, so I have nothing to compare it against but chat amongst other parents, but American Hospital appears extortionately expensive compared to some of the other hospitals for a similar level of service. If you're all covered under insurance though that shouldn't be a factor.


----------



## nite (Apr 11, 2012)

It's a first world country. IMO, anywhere will do. From Belhoul (cheap) up to American Hospital (not cheap), all are fine.


----------



## Montreux (May 12, 2015)

thanks for your experiances so far, honestly if I compare the costs I have seen so far on a couple of websites from hospitals it seams quite reasonable to me, compared to what we payed in Switzerland for a c-section delivery (medical reasons) in a private hospital!

We payed arround 18.000 CHF/71.000AED for standard c-section (plus 1 extra day in hospital) without having big compliations (but we got allmost everything reimboursed by our health insurance) and they confirmed me that they will cover up to 67.000 CHF/265.000 AED for a delivery in a private hospital in Dubai, so I dont think this should be the big issue (or am I maybe naive?). F.e. on the webside of American hospital they offer the (most expansive) c-section package for 23.000 AED (assuming there are no complications), can I rely on this infos and do I have to decide/pay for that package when I am registering myself there for the delivery?

Is it obligatory to have a gynae outside the hospital to come and deliver at one of the private hopitals or can I make also appointments for the normal prenatal examinations in a hospital with a doctor there? Just asking, as we will be in Dubai only for 9 month so I only need a doctor to follow the pregnancy and delivery...Are the private gynae are very busy or is it not so difficult to get a first appointment as a new patient? Thanks!
Montreux


----------



## iggles (Jan 4, 2015)

Make sure your married with all the correct documents already in place


----------



## Montreux (May 12, 2015)

iggles said:


> Make sure your married with all the correct documents already in place


thanks for the info, I have heard about that, in our case it is not a problem as we are married since 2002 and have all necessary documents (like marriage certificate) translated in english and attested by ministry of foreign affairs/Dubai embassy in Germany. 

Montreux


----------



## w_man (Apr 16, 2010)

Montreux said:


> We payed arround 18.000 CHF/71.000AED for standard c-section


Yikes! That's an expensive delivery.

Sound like you'll be covered to go to pretty much any hospital you want. 

You don't have to have an outside gyn if you don't want. There are hospitals who have their own doctors and then there are smaller private clinics with doctors who usually have a deal with one of the hospitals for deliveries. That's why it's to simply find a gyn you are comfortable with and go from there.

Appointments depend on the doctor of course - the doctor we wanted to go with at City was booked for the first few months so we 'tried' a few other doctors but ended up going with the one we wanted.

Just make sure you have pre-approvals from your insurance company and all the documents sorted. You can get all the information once you get here. Either take someone's recommendation here and visit a recommended gyn or just go to a few of the hospitals and ask them for the tour of the facilities. 

A standard delivery is about 10-15k in both City and American if I remember correctly and a c-section was around 20-25k. I wouldn't worry about it too much ... they have everything here.


----------



## Montreux (May 12, 2015)

What kind of documents do we need beside the marriage certificate, Passport and valid visa? 

City Hospital told me that they would deal with our insurance directly to make sure the delivery is covered, will have a look at their maternity packages as well.

Montreux


----------



## iggles (Jan 4, 2015)

w_man said:


> Yikes! That's an expensive delivery.
> 
> A standard delivery is about 10-15k in both City and American if I remember correctly and a c-section was around 20-25k. I wouldn't worry about it too much ... they have everything here.


Wait it cost money to have a baby here? I have never heard of this before. Gonna have to wrap up the fella abit longer then.


----------



## Montreux (May 12, 2015)

w_man said:


> Yikes! That's an expensive delivery.
> 
> Welcome to swiss prices and fees  Pritty normal here, I don´t know anything which is cheap, read today that Geneva (where we live) is under the 5 most expensive places/cities to live in the world...and I agree!
> 
> So therefor it is a good deal for our health insurance that I will have the baby in Dubai instead of Switzerland


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

You'll need, if I'm not mistaken, Emirates ID and residency to deliver here. From your insurers, you'll need pre-approval.


----------



## Montreux (May 12, 2015)

Do you think the time from arrival end of July until lets say mid/end November (due date) is enough to arrange these documents? 

Our employer will take care of all the paperwork and we are already in the application process for a working and residency visa (sponsored for me and our daughter through my husband) now to make sure we can move end of July. So working visa and residency visa should be issued for all of us during August hopefully?!

I have already an email confirmation that the insurance will cover my delivery in dubai in the general or private hospital up to ca. 265.000 AED, is it that what you mean with pre-approval? T
the other way I know so fa to handle it I suppose is (so it was the case in Switzerland), the hospital contacts the insurance before the delivery and ask for a guaranted coverage for the cost of the delivery and the insurer gives a confirmation / pre-approval - right?


----------



## A.Abbass (Jun 28, 2014)

I am in the medical field. My recommendation is you go back Germany and deliver there then return to Dubai.


----------



## BedouGirl (Sep 15, 2011)

A.Abbass said:


> I am in the medical field. My recommendation is you go back Germany and deliver there then return to Dubai.


if I was OP, your post would scare the hell out of me. I'm not in the medical profession, but I've had two major operations here and can honestly say I would not have received better treatment anywhere else. OP, normally if someone is pregnant and not far from delivery, most of us recommend staying home, having the baby and arriving afterwards. That's generally because they won't have such good medical cover as yours. Personally speaking, I don't think it's a bad idea if you can do it. Even down to the practicality of getting the baby a passport, it will make life easier.


----------



## Montreux (May 12, 2015)

A.Abbass said:


> I am in the medical field. My recommendation is you go back Germany and deliver there then return to Dubai.


May I ask you for the reason of your recommendation?

The point is that I am currently not living in my home country (I am living in Switzerland) which makes the situation from the organisational point more complex. First of all so far I have heard the health system in Dubai is good (again, even better when you can choose a private clinic like in my case) and offers western standard medicine, so I am not worried about getting a baby in a first world country.

When I moved to Switzerland my experiance was that non of the staff in the public hospital was able (or willling ) to speak in German (this is the major official language in Switzerland, but Geneva is french speeking) or English to me (only in french) so there was no possibility to communicate in a proper way (as my french was not existing at that point), so THAT was scary! That was one reason why I decided to deliver in a private hospital as they do have much more international patients and staff.

Second - if I decide to go back to Switzerland (it is still an option in case I have a negative impression of the hospitals or there would be forseeable major complications to expect) I would be on my own with my 2 1/2 year old toddler, as we dont habe family or close friends here and it is not ou home country as well - so I would have to go through the same passport process with the german embassy than in Dubai, which would take from experiance in Bern more than 2 - 3 month! So I would stuck in Switzerland as I will not have a passport for the baby for a while with my husband still in Dubai, and I know that for applying for a passport in Bern both parents plus baby have to be present at the embassy, which makes it even more complicate! As we are in Dubai only for a limited period of 9 month ( so far we can say by now) going back to deliver in Switzerland is only an emergency solution, but good to have that as backup in any case.


----------



## A.Abbass (Jun 28, 2014)

The quality of medical services in Europe is incomparable to here.

Let me be more specific, if it is a normal smooth delivery ( Cesarean or vaginal) then things in Dubai are just perfect, but as a physician I see all sorts of complications post surgeries (complications are inevitable anywhere in the world) and I find that dealing with these complications in Europe/North america is better.

So my opinion, is that since delivery could be planned, and you have the option to deliver there then go for it. If your familial arrangements prevents you from that then that's another issue.

There is nothing scary about delivering in Dubai, but it's like asking me whether to buy a BMW or a Porsche, so if you can afford the later then go for it. The BMW would still be great.

I personally sent my wife twice back home to deliver. Not that I don't trust my colleagues, but I had more faith in doctors back home.


----------



## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

A.Abbass said:


> [...]
> I personally sent my wife twice back home to deliver. Not that I don't trust my colleagues, but I had more faith in doctors back home.


To Egypt?!

But yes, I would probably choose Germany / Switzerland over Dubai if it wouldn't complicate my life too much and it wouldn't winter time there. It's not bad here just the level of incompetence is amazing. American Hospital, where my wife delivered, has nice hotel rooms looking rooms but the nurses are not that great. I have not seen even one european nurse at AH, but saw plenty at City Hospital and this is where I would probably send my wife for the 2nd time, despite less nicer looking hospital and rooms.

Her gynae, Dr. Rosalie Sant was excellent though, she is independent and work with AH, CH and Al Zahra hospital, so you can choose.


----------



## A.Abbass (Jun 28, 2014)

Malbec said:


> To Egypt?!
> 
> But yes, I would probably choose Germany / Switzerland over Dubai if it wouldn't complicate my life too much and it wouldn't winter time there. It's not bad here just the level of incompetence is amazing. American Hospital, where my wife delivered, has nice hotel rooms looking rooms but the nurses are not that great. I have not seen even one european nurse at AH, but saw plenty at City Hospital and this is where I would probably send my wife for the 2nd time, despite less nicer looking hospital and rooms.
> 
> Her gynae, Dr. Rosalie Sant was excellent though, she is independent and work with AH, CH and Al Zahra hospital, so you can choose.


You look at hotel like rooms and the color of the nurses. I assess things medically.

And when it comes to deliveries Egypt is definitely way better than here, the number of deliveries in a single university hospital in Egypt equals that of all deliveries in the whole GCC. There are also luxury options back home, not as much as here though.

You might want to know that many GCC nationals head to Egypt for treatment.


----------

