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Bump to baby on the beaten expat track

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expatriate having a baby in Thailand

Maternity package rates at Bumrungrad (Bangkok) and St Luke’s hospital (Manila)

28 September 2013 by Nathalie Abejero 4 Comments

As of this writing, the exchange rate is 30 Baht=US $1. So a normal delivery package at Bumgrungrad is US $1,196, while a C-section birth is US $3100. I was quite impressed with my experience at Samitivej hospital for our first child’s birth in 2011. I imagine the facilities in Bumrungrad, which is considered a higher-class (5star) facility, must be better.

In comparison, when we had our daughter in March this year in St Luke’s Hospital (Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Manila) the quote for a C-section delivery is PHP155,000-185,000 (US $3789-$4512) for 4-5 days’ hospitalization including delivery, recovery and nursery room charges, medicines and supplies used in the delivery room, hospitalization expenses (private room) and professional fees (OB-gyne, Pedia, Anesthesiologist). St Luke’s BGC is a similarly-billed 5star medical tourist hospital in Manila.

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This ad was posted in the elevators.
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the women’s health clinic
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Pediatric department lounge area, complete with a small play space.

 

Other posts on this topic:

Having a baby in Manila vs. Having a baby in Bangkok (for expatriates) Aug 10, 2013

Bumrungrad Hospital in pictures Aug 10, 2013

Giving birth in Manila vs Giving birth in Bangkok Jun 16, 2013

Living in Phnom Penh, Having a baby in Bangkok Feb 20, 2011

Filed Under: Life, Travels Tagged With: American expatriate, Bangkok, birth tourism, Bumrungrad hospital, delivery, expatriate, expatriate having a baby in Thailand, expatriate having a baby in the Philippines, expatriate life, giving birth in Bangkok, Giving birth in Manila, having a baby in Bangkok, having a baby in Manila, Manila, maternity package, medical tourism, medical tourism destination, Philippines, St Luke's hospital, Thailand

Having a baby in Manila vs. Having a baby in Bangkok (for expatriates)

10 August 2013 by Nathalie Abejero 4 Comments

Saoirse Inés Abejero Kelly

… continued from Part I. Our first child was born in Bangkok’s Samitivej Hospital in January 2011, which I wrote about here. Our second was born in St Luke’s Medical Center, Taguig, Manila, in March 2013. Below is our experience in both countries.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, airlines restrict travel at 35 weeks 1 day gestation. Living costs have to be calculated from five weeks before the estimated due date, through the birth, and the time it takes to finalize the paperwork to clear you for exiting the country with the baby. Bureaucratic coordination is a tremendous help to medical tourists – particularly for births. Our overall experience:

  • Bangkok‘s medical tourism industry is exceptionally efficient. Bureaucratic requirements for the birth through your baby’s exit clearance are transparent right from the beginning. It’s possible to plan ahead, budget properly, and concentrate on the birth. Hospital staff handled the paperwork and coordination across government departments on your behalf until you leave the country. We were able to go home when our son was 10 days old.
  • Manila was the complete opposite, with inefficiency at every office, in a process that is not transparent. Information for foreigners coming to the Philippines to have a baby was sparse, with different people in the same hospital/government office offering conflicting information, and unfair fines levied (which we paid in order to move the process). The coordination required to secure our daughter’s documents (1) within the hospital, then (2)(3) from the hospital to/between the different government departments, was worse than poor. We were finally cleared to leave the country after 74 days.

Nursing care is a big factor  [Read more…] about Having a baby in Manila vs. Having a baby in Bangkok (for expatriates)

Filed Under: Life, Travels Tagged With: Bangkok, birth experience, birth tourism, expatriate, expatriate having a baby in Thailand, expatriate having a baby in the Philippines, expatriate life, giving birth in Bangkok, Giving birth in Manila, having a baby in Bangkok, having a baby in Manila, Manila, maternity package, medical tourism, Metro Manila, Philippines, Thailand

Living in Phnom Penh, Having a baby in Bangkok

20 February 2011 by Nathalie Abejero 4 Comments

Photo by Keith A Kelly

CHOOSING THE HOSPITAL

We work and live in Phnom Penh, and wouldn’t feel comfortable with the specialists / facilities here in case of complications during delivery. The nearest city with internationally accredited care is Bangkok, so there we went at 35 weeks 6 days gestation, the latest we’re allowed to board a Thai Airways flight (with a fit-to-fly certificate from the doc).

Most of Bangkok’s well-known private facilities have high quality patient-oriented care and great customer service. They have translators, can take care of extending  visas, take the baby’s passport photo (this isn’t easy so do get this done at the hospital!), get the birth certificate officially translated and documented at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and liaise on documentations necessary to register the birth at your particular embassy etc. Many people go to Bumrungrad Hospital; read this post and follow the link to her birth story at Bumrungrad here. This hospital is located in the neighborhood of Sukhumvit where many Arab nationals live, so the third spoken language is Arabic.

The delivery packages she quoted for Bumrungrad are comparable to those at Samitivej:

  • Natural birth/Water birth (3 days admission) 55,000Baht / US$1800 on exchange rate 30Baht=US$1
  • Natural birth with Epidural (3days admission) 68,000 Baht / US$2267
  • C-section (4days admission) 78,000Baht / US$2600

So I’d heard there is a ~90% c-section rate in private hospitals in Bangkok..? At any rate it’s high, but that’s due to a lot of other factors (including the Asian quest for luck, leading parents to schedule c-sections on the most propitious time and date for birth). [Read more…] about Living in Phnom Penh, Having a baby in Bangkok

Filed Under: Life, Travels Tagged With: baby, Bangkok, birth tourism, childbirth, delivering a baby, delivery, expat, expatriate, expatriate having a baby in Bangkok, expatriate having a baby in Thailand, Having a baby abroad, having a baby in Bangkok, having a baby in Thailand, maternity, maternity package, nursing, parenthood, parenting, Phnom Penh, Samitivej

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Those little feet pitter-pattering about rule our lives lately. But on the occasional free moment I get to tap out scatterbrained bursts of consciousness about raising toddlers in Cambodia, traveling with them and working abroad. These posts are my personal updates to friends and family. But since you’re here, have a look around. Thanks for stopping by…

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