Delivering a Great Experience!. Review on Bhagirathi Neotia Woman and Child Care Centre - Rawdon Street - Kolkata

My wife delivered a baby boy at Neotia recently(last week) and I would like to share the experience with the parents to be:

First the positives:

1. The hospital is very neat and hygienic and gives the feel more of a hotel than a hospital.

   
   




2. The doctors who visit the hospital are usually well qualified and experienced in handling pregnancies. You can also inquire about the latest technologies at disposal there which will make giving birth a less painful and more pleasurable experience.

   
   




3. Baby care is excellent and the nursery is an amazing place to look at. Qualified pediatrics visit your baby everyday(except Sundays) and give you feedback about the heath of the baby on a daily basis.

   
   




4. The nurses and other staff are very co-operative, cheerful; qualified and go beyond normal duty to keep you happy.

   
   




5. There are enough double rooms to accommodate patients. The room is divided into two sections and the hospital ensures that patient in each section is comfortable and has her own privacy. If you want to be with your wife throughout her stay at the hospital there is an option of single rooms. The rents though are about 2.5 times that of a twin-share room and much above the insurance limits.

   
   




6. The operation theater, labor room and nursery are equipped with state-of-art instruments to handle any emergency and the standards of service are usually kept high.

   
   




7. The visiting hours are comfortable and sufficient(10 AM to 11 AM, 5 PM to 7 PM, 9:30 AM to 10 AM exclusively for husbands when they can meet the baby).

   
   




8. Other facilities like cafeteria, waiting hall etc are comfortable and make for a good place for relatives and friends to have a good chat.

   
   




9. The hospital is centrally located and easily accessible from most parts of the city.

   
   

Coming to the negatives:

1. In my 5 days at the hospital I could observe that most of the patients opted for a Cesarean(either by self or on doctor recommendation). Not sure if this is true only for neotia or most big hospitals in the business. If you want a normal delivery make sure you take your own stand and are not influenced too much by the doctors.

   
   




2. The process of release is not transparent. Quite often patients have been held up for 1-2 days extra. Usually they try to make the stay longer than any good nursing home. I myself had to literally fight with the doctors and staff to make sure my wife and baby are released on time. Some of the common reasons(only a few of which are genuine)- baby is not fine(sudden status change on 5th day!), insurance is not yet approved, mother needs more rest, and the most common one - papers are not processed before 12 noon and therefore you are charged for an extra day(room rents are from 12 to 12).

   
   




3. The hospital is the most expensive you'll come across in east India. A Cesarean would cost you from 50K-60K and a normal from 30K-40K. So even if you are covered under maternity insurance you may have to shell some money from your own pocket.

   
   

I hope this information helps the parents-to-be and best wishes for the same:)

Regards,

Anurag