Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

OK, so I am just about to give birth, probably in the next 2 weeks. I am booked into City Hospital. I discover - today - that my insurance company has changed the list of approved hospitals and City is no longer on the list. The only one on the list that is remotely feasible is the Iranian Hospital. Firstly, does anybody have any experience of giving birth there? I called them this afternoon, no-one spoke enough English for me to be understood, I was put through to about 17 different departments, it was just soul-destroying. I gave up in the end.

I really don't know what to do. I am having a very high-risk pregnancy, I have a massive blood clot in my uterus and am worried that I could bleed to death on the delivery table. Not being dramatic, it really is very bad.

Because of the blood clot, I have not worked for months and we now as a consequence have no savings. I honestly do not know what to do. One thing that someone said to me, is that if you pay yourself (don't know how we will do this, but still) you can then go to whichever hospital you like and claim it back afterwards. Does anybody know if this is true?

Thanks.

Re: Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

http://aryaclinic.uaeblooms.com/inde...iew&pro_id=276
try Dr. Raoufi. She is at Arya clinic (right after Iranian consulate and nearby Iranian hospital) and delivers at the Iranian hospital.
She was recommended by a local client of mine.
Good luck darling
xxx

Re: Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

al wasl?

I was high risk so went to the Corniche in AD and the medical facilities were much better than private hospitals.

Call your insurance as, if you have maternity cover, you should be able to claim most, if not all, back.

Re: Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

I suggest you persevere with the Iranian Hospital as they are fine. Get your husband or his PRO to visit them if you still cannot get understood. Good luck and don't worry. We had our daughter delivered in Jeddah, which is far worse.

Re: Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

The government hospitals in AD (and Dubai for that matter) are very good. I cannot recommend Latifa in Dubai enough, they really sorted out our maid when she almost died - did loads of checks/scans/MRI, operated within 18 hours of admission and provided a reasonable of aftercare - all for about the 1/8 of the price of City Hospital. Of course, the lack of marble, fine arts and leather sofas might put off the more discerning expat.

As for pay and claim - I have to nearly always do that as my US insurer is mostly unrecognised here. You call them up, get it "PREARROVED" (that is important - give them an idea of costs and the hospital etc.) and then away you go. For me it's an email and they answer the same day - it may be different for you of course. I normally get refunded within 14days of putting the claim in through my normal payroll.

Good luck with the birth. :thumbsup:

Re: Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

Thanks so much for your replies. Can you believe the government hospitals are now the same price as the private hospitals? I am not too fussed about all the luxuries, I just want my baby to have a safe entry into the world.

Patsy, thanks for recommending ******ul - I shall call her in the morning :)

Re: Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

Good luck, it's all sounds very stressful but you'll soon have your baby. xx

Re: Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

Thanks again for your replies. It seems the government hospitals are more expensive than the private hospitals. Our only option really is the Iranian Hospital. I'm gonna follow up Patsy's suggestion (not sure why it was censored in my previous post?) and see if they can register me quickly.

One thing I am a bit upset about is that men are not allowed onto the labour ward, so I shall be doing it all alone. I have a hard job getting myself understood at the best of times, so I am not looking forward to this aspect of it.

Incidentally, I posted about this on Ex pat Wo man. I was shocked by some of the responses, telling me I needed to put my baby first "for once" and that I was "obviously not prepared for parenthood". Rude f cuking b itches. Will not be going back there again, that's for sure.

Re: Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

it used to be the case ( a year or so ago) that you could only choose to give birth at latifa hospital if you had registered your pregnancy before about 14 weeks with them.
slightly daft but hey ho.
If you can have a chat with latifa hospital i would, every single hospital in dubai refers its bad/nightmare/going wrong cases to latifa as they are the best equipped hospital in town by a very long way.

if your considering the iranian check if they have NICU facilities, how many and how full they currently are. If its a high risk pregnancy i wouldn't even consider a hospital without its own nicu facilities.

18 months or so ago my son was born, like you my wifes pregnancy was high risk and he ended up in nicu for a week, fortunately the hospital had an nicu but we know friends that went through a similar thing and it was a nightmare of last minute ambulance rides etc and frankly a hell to live through.

a huge number of pregnancies these days are classified as high risk and for the large part the vast majority of births go either without a hitch or with only minor issues so im sure youll be fine.

Whislt not so pretty both the iranian and latifa hospitals see far far more patients than city, american , welcare et al. and as a result are actually much better places to go if you have any real issues

Re: Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

spot on. I'd always go to a government hospital here and the UK if it was really serious for this exact reason. It's a volume game - private hospitals are for having ingrown toenails removed.

Re: Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

I agree with you to a point, shiva and Millhouse. I would trust an NHS hospital over a private one every time. The expertise really is with the NHS. I have given birth in an inner-city NHS hospital in one of the most deprived boroughs in the UK, I have also given birth in the Portland. Were I at home now and expecting a high-risk delivery, sure, I'd opt for the NHS one.

I am really examining my motives here. Is it about City being very posh and the Iranian not so, or is it something else? I am afraid to say that my main concern is communication. I am worried that something will be missed about my medical condition and something could go wrong. I also really want my husband there when I am in labour. He also wants to be there.

Thanks for helping with all your suggestions, I shall let you know how I get on.

ETA: One good thing about the Iranian Hospital, apparently, is that they serve great kebabs!

Re: Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

New born babies can only have milk, takes a while before they can be weaned onto solids.

Best of luck :)

Re: Giving birth in Dubai & Insurance Reimbursement question
 

we were at city and it was a communication issue there that very nearly led to a nightmare. tbh i dont think iranian will be much worse. dont get me wrong city is great but pre birth they sell a great story that goes out the window as soon as your stuck there! same same but different. fyi a c section and 1 week of nicu cost 100K aed plus at city, fortunately our insurance covered it so if your paying id be very wary of city