Giving birth in Doha

Al Ahli hospital

hey ,

Congratulations on your baby:)

I read your post concerning doha clinic and your bad experience there could you pls elaborate more since i am suppose to deliver my baby there next month with Dr Amal Badie.

thanks a million

Al Ahli hospital is doing prenatal classes now and I believe breastfeeding classes as well. Try doing a search over at www.expatwomanqatar.com. Someone was just talking about it. Good luck.  

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Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

Hi Nata,

I found your contribution on Qatar living. Have no idea if you are still in Doha, but decided to give it a try.

I will move there beginning of April to join my husband, and also to give birth in June. - Did you setup your breatfeeding classes ?

It would be great to hear from you.

Regards

Claudia

Hi Mimi

Was really only planning a breastfeeding class, could have one in beg of Dec. would be nice if we could have 3-4 women - makes it more interesting.

Anybody else intersted?

I could do the whole antenatal classes too if anybody is interested please send me a private message.

Thanks

Hi Nata,

Not too sure if you've been able to set up ante natal classes, but if you have I would love to join. I am due mid January, and I am a bit worried with the lack of preparation being offered here.

Thanks

I'm happy to answer any questions you have... My 18 mo. old was born here, and I'm due again in December... Doha Clinic, Dr. Badi... Actually, Dr. Badi missed the birth because my daughter was 3 weeks early and the Dr. was on an overnight trip to Dubai. And, I only went to Doha clinic because of her. Although my "worst case scenario" actually happened, I was very happy and am going to be a "repeat customer", although everyone I know goes to Al Ahli now.

Tips (in my opinion):

* Although Hamad is free (or almost free, I think), men are not allowed, so it's worth it to pay for Al Ahli or Doha Clinic if husband wants to be there. Check what your insurance covers, it seems like western companies are getting better recently about covering medical expenses.

* Remember, you can have a good or bad birth ANYWHERE in the world. You will hear good and bad stories about all the doctors here. You just have to sift through the information (in fact, the dr on call who was at my daughter's delivery was the only one I had heard horrible things about and although I wasn't too excited about her "encouragement" during the birth, all was fine)

* In my opinion, stick with the pediatricians at Al Ahli... Although I'm delivering at Doha Clinic due to my doctor, I will switch hospitals for my baby's after birth care as soon as I can.

* You won't get anything "fancy" here such as water births, etc... But, the key is to find a doctor who is willing to work with your preferences (i.e. what kind of pain med, if any, you want... position, etc) in order to have a good basic birth experience.

* I highly recommend hiring a doula/birth coach to help you... My friend, a midwife, did this for me and it was wonderful to have someone who knew what was supposed to happen so I didn't have to rely on my husband for everything... I think there are midwives here who will do that kind of thing.

Prices for a standard 2 day stay range from 6,500 to 10,500 for the royal suite. It increases if you need forceps and then again if it is a caesarian (4 days upto 20,000)

They do have pre natal classes but they are one to one with the head nurse (i believe).

HMC IS GOOD FOR DELIVERY

I am a first time mom, would really like some antenatal education. Will soak it up....

Dream, then live the dream!

Hi there, Count me in for some education, as this is my first baby.... Every little bit of education, will be soaked up by me.

Dream, then live the dream!

We had our first baby in Qatar in January 2007 (I am from Norway and my husband from Italy). I had an elected cesarian in Al Khor Hospital (part of Hamad Hospital) and it was a very very good experience. I trusted the doctor who performed the operation 100% and the doctor doing the spinal anaesthetic made sure I did not feel a thing and generally made me feel safe. The time in the maternity ward was perfect - the nurses were always ready to assist and I felt really pampered ! I have no personal experience with natural birth in Qatar - but have friends who had very good experience in the same hospital. We were followed up in the out patient department until the baby was 3 months and from birth until the baby was 5,5 months (when we went to europe for the summer holiday) - I had weekly or bi-weekly meetings with a brest feeding specialist working for the hamad corporation (both in Doha and in Al Khor). No matter which country you come from or who you talk to you will always hear both good and bad stories related to birth / delivery - however, my experience was extremely positive - and I was very very happy that we decided to have our baby in Doha. If I needed the maternity unit in Hamad hospital again in the future I would not hezitate for a second to repeat the experience in Al Khor hospital.

Hi there

Arrived in Doha a month ago and have given up a great job as a midwife and lactation consultant in Oz.

Sad to read that there is not much antenatal classes or postnatal advice here in Doha and would hate to sit at home and not help women out especially after having their baby.

I would like to set up an antenatal breastfeeding class. This will be a one off session of about 2 hours taken in the last part of the pregnancy. If there are any interested pregnant women here who would like to come along I will be most happy to set it up, send me a pm.

umm salayum

normal delivery nearabouts 6000qr

ceasarian near 10000qr.

do it right - the first time!

Don't worry - it's just my weird sense of humour and what you asked almost sounded, to me, like: 'how much does it cost to get a baby at Al Ahli'.

Sorry :D

OK, what did i do wrong here? Help me out .......

I'm so sorry, but I'm giggling here.

Just sounded funny :D

Does anybody know how much it will cost having a baby at Al Ahli?

Thanks

Thank you all for your replies - we don't have much choice but to have the baby in DOH!

Have a good day!

David

Dr. Rizvi (female) - Al Ahli. Very popular with expat moms. I had great care there. Husband is allowed in room for regular delivery but not if she has to have a c-section. Plenty of info on expatwoman.com on the Qatar chatboard as well. Just do a search. Best wishes.

Hi David,

I gave birth here two months ago. I'm from NZ. If this is you and your wife’s first baby then I would recommend you have the baby back home. There is no advice or antenatal classes in Doha. It was not such a great experience for me and I relied a lot on emailing family and friends back home for advise. My husband and I have decided to have our next baby back home so we don’t go through what we went through here. Also do not go to Doha Clinic. Our experience there was traumatic. If you want more information about it I will be happy to explain. We have made an official complaint to the hospital but they don't give a hoot. There is no after care for babies in Doha at any hospital but the best one if you have to go to one is Ali Ahli. They are a new hospital and are quite good. Don't expect your experience here to be anything like it would be in your home country. You are on your own in this country when it comes to having babies.

Dr Badi Amal and Dr Rizvi are the two recommend doctors in Doha.

Please let me know if I can explain any further.

Regards

father permitted at birth only if you opt for private hospital. As how good the level care in Doha ... i cant comment much. I only give birth once ... my first child ... in Doha ... 6 yrs ago. So i guess most of my expalanation would be out of date.

Few girlfriends of mine delivered in Al Ahli ... they are all both happy. Havent heard any complained about Al Ahli so far.

For the doctor ... there are 2 doctors that keep come up in the forum / conversation. One is Dr.Amal and the other one Dr.Resvi or Dr.Risvi (not too sure with the spelling).

If you click on 'Groups' at the top of this page you will find a 'Mums In Doha Group'. I'm sure you will find lots of ladies in there who will be delighted to help also.

If you go to search and type in "having a baby or giving birth in Doha" you will find a lot of useful information on that topic! Hope that helped