May 31, 2013 03:49 PM
17056 Views
Me and my wife got our first child delivered at this Hospital in November last year. My wife had a prior case of miscarriage , hence we wanted to be very careful this time. we consulted Dr. RR first , but when the gut feel of both myself and my wife wasn't positive , we changed to Dr. NM which turned out to be a good choice in the end. We went for regular visits and my wife took all her medications in time. We stuck to the hospital despite hearing about the horror stories of forcep deliveries conducted there as for every negative review, we used to hear 3 positive reviews from different people.
The hospital still retains the character of a missionary hospital, the general OPD section is fairly organized, neat and clean as compared to other hospital. However, the private OPD has many traits of a corporate hospital. Advising tests which are often not necessary, writing prescriptions of costly drugs when less affordable substitutes are available and asking for too many USGs.
We delayed my wife's admission by a couple of weeks as we thought we would wait for natural labour, but that created complications as the baby had grown quite big by the time we realized that labour pains may not arrive by themselves. However, we were lucky to have Dr. NM at the time of delivery and by GOD's grace, both mother and the child were hale and hearty at the end of the delivery. Hence, my advice is, in cases of maternity to all first time to-be parents, trust the doctor and do not interfere in important decisions. We just don't know enough to make our own judgements unless we are specifically asked to decide.
Here are some of the positives I would like to list out:
Transparency in pricing - the approximate pricing of both c-section and normal delivery is mentioned clearly in private OPD, and the hospital does not deploy dual standards for people who have medical insurance vs. people who do not. Our bill was bang in the range that was mentioned earlier and far lower as compared to other private hospitals in any of the metros.
Good nursing staff - The post-natal care is excellent and the presence of a new born nursery takes away a lot of burden immediately after delivery. E.g. in case of absence of immediate lactation the nurses in new born nursery take care of nutrition needs of the little one
The care standards are excellent - the staff , at all levels, seem to know what they are supposed to know. I would NOT agree with the notion that hospital pushes for C-section. among around 10 children born during our stay there, atleast 7 were delivered normally.
Infastructure: despite having been constructed 60 years ago, the hospital has easy access from three roads, good public transport connectivity, ample parking, large rooms for post-natal care, a well staffed casualty and a well equipped labour room etc.
Negatives:
No relative of the mother is allowed in the delivery room, absolutely no-one. Not sure if this is a standard practice in other hospitals also
Patient cannot ensure that the Doc who saw the patient in the 9 months period will also be present at the time of delivery. We were fortunate, as I said earlier. But the hospital honestly makes it clear right from the start.
Pre-labour build up: I heard feedback from family members of other patients that they were often asked to be admitted at the slightest hint of an abnormalcy and then discharged 24 hours later. WE did not have to go through repeated admissions, however, I got the drift that in some cases, that the doctors were being way too cautious.
Not clubbing baby's bill with mother: this is a small point, but for people who go with insurance, the hospital does not club baby's bill with the mother, which creates settlement problems as:
1) baby is often not covered from birth
2) Insurance companies often find the "hospitalization" of baby unjustified , unless he/she is born with complications
I would sympathize with members who had negative experiences as the clock cannot be turned back and the child/mother cannot get back what he/she lost. Even we had a case of a pregnancy casualty being reported while we were celebrating the birth of the child, but the hospital staff does what it need to do to delivery a healthy baby.
Our particular experience was positive and I would like to give the hospital and the doctor the credit for that.
