Pregnancy and Childbirth in Qatar

There's no problem if you have hospital's health Card.

hi everyone,

m in my 8th month n seeing private Dr. becaz my experience in health center is so horrible.... m scared to go n face those heartless drs.

can u guys suggest me if private Dr. gives me refferal letter for hamad woman emergency???

and suggest for C-section??

i had all my tests in private hospital...only two blood tests( at the time of my first trimester ) been in massaimeer health center...

will they accept me as a patient there in hamad???

thanx in advance

pls help m stressed :-(

Hi everyone,

Read all the comments from last year :)

My case is complicated ......I am 41 yrs old having my 5 th baby , have hypertension, fibroids, last baby was born 10 yrs back and through a c section, she also had congenital abnormalities.

I am getting in my 3 rd month currently and will deliver inj July 2013.

I am being seen at our co. Private clinic.....due to my case she give me a referral for hamad women's hospital. I can get a referal for ahli too as our medical treatment is attached to it. But seeing my case inthink she will insist on hamad .

My husband got the app for jan!!!! But he forgot to mention I need a female dr.

All my babies were delivered in India where we have good private dr.s who come down to the hospital during delivery and very good care.

So this time too my husband feels I should deliver in India. As he is concerned for my health and the about the dr.s .

Also someone told him that in hamad only male dr.s are available.

Appreciate any reply.

hi desertmoon! , thanks for sharing with me your own experience! sincerely i would be happy if a normal first delivery happens!, to give birth and feel at the same time every sensation with your arriving baby ( in a normal level of pain) i'm just afread about if it will be horrendous!,in such a way that i will regret not having chosen the epidural solution when i still could it! and it will be late for relieve the situation...anyhow,i still have alomost 3month ahead to think about it, i guess when the moment arrives we all know what we want to do.

take care of you and your tinny baby:)

Sure fifi. I had already left a msg at your inbox.

don't worry about labour pains inshallaah ...for the first baby i humbly suggest not to use epidural...i remember with my first child my hubby was unusually stubborn not have pain relief ..i was really mad at him at the time ..thinking he didnt care about the horrendous amounts of pain i would be in ...But Alhamdulillah he was stubborn because i was just able to have a normal delivery ......With each contraction your body works with you to help baby emerge naturally ...If you numb yourself to this feeling it is very difficult to know what signals your body is giving you ..maybe somebody can give you a counterview also ..congrats ..:)

oh great vidya ! now i'm reassured ,and my decision is now made: i will go to hamad hospital as they have the best care services.if you dont mind i will text you for more details, and sharing you experince with me :). TC

Yes, they will ask us if we need Epidural or not immediately after transfering us to the Labor Room. If yes, we need to sign them a document, tahts all. I had it at Women's Hospital.

thanks for your answer! i know that my husband will not be allowed to take part of the birth, and i'm not so afread about that because my mother will be present and for me it enough. my husband will comme to visit us when the hard time and the cute baby will be fine.lol but i'm scared about the delivery pain ,so i want to know if this hospital offers the anesthesia to make the pain lower, i know that ahli hospital got this treatment , but what about hamad?

^Congrats, fifi!

Hamad sounds great, but that is irritating husbands can't be with their wives to suport them during childbirth.

Hi everybody! I road all the comments about the delivery as i m also expecting my first baby on December 2012. So I think that my choice will be for Hamad hospital, but iI still don't know if they provide painkillers there( epidural anesthesia) if I demand it? I'm Verry scared about the labour pain! Thank you

It's true they keep you in for at least 2 nights with the baby - that's the same for Hamad & Al Ahli. I was happy to do so with my first baby but with the second I just wanted to go home!!

i also heard u must stay in hospital for THREE DAYS after giving birth.... now that wud drive me crazy as i like to go home the same day. maybe u should ask about that if you dont want to be stuck in hospital for 3 days.

it was a relief to know... will visit the health center on monday afternoon.... i will keep u posted if i have other questions in mind.. thanks chevs....

- yes you can open file at 4pm...

- as far as i know, your respective health center will provide you an endorsement to women's hospital on your 6th month pregnancy.

- your husband can go with you but he need's to stay on male section's waiting area. He can't accompany you during the check up.

Hamad

can i go in the afternoon to open file? the operator told me they are open from 4pm to 10:30 pm.. after how many months should i be admitted to women's hospital? can my husband go with me at the health center??? thanks again...

BTW, congratulations :)

go to your place designated health center...open file there...they will accept you for sure... :)...bring your health card, copy of pataka/residence and copy of your marriage contract to open file.

Women's hospital are only accepting early high risk pregnancy.

Do not go on Sundays...as Sundays are for children.

i went to women's hospital to register but the reception told me that i should first go to my health center since i am just 1 month pregnant. i called my health center in west bay but they told me to register if its already 2 months. i am confused... what is the proper procedure here if you found out that you are pregnant? i got my blood pregnancy result and ultrasound at hamad e.r. last week. should i go to a private clinic or follow the health center advice to go visit them when i'm on my 2nd month.

hamad women hospital is best,well equipped and cheap.they are very stick to their appointments.and ya sure husbands not allowed there.

hamad women hospital is best,cheap and good services.

Congratulations

What are the things do I need to bring for scheduled CS in Women's Hospital? For those who undergone CS delivery, please share your experiences. Thanks.

gore1876, thanks for the info. Were you able to be present for exams and the delivery? What was your wife's stay like at Doha Clinic? Were the rooms shared or private? Also, is it covered with the medical card or are there additional expenses?

When it comes to medical/medication. Cheap or Expensive is not an issue. Important is how well you treated, warm words, politeness, timely attendance, reliability etc., This is my view and hope all agree.

My wife and i just had our first baby 9 days back and we went to Al Hayat Clinic on Villagio Road, Dr. Zafer, and she delivered at Doha Clinic. C-section.

I was really happy with both very good staff and really friendly, we started off at Al Ahli and will NEVER go back there again. Still at Al Hayat Clinic as was very impressed with pediatrician.

but i totally agree with all that Rizks had said... my wife delivered our baby in hamad women's hospital and had no problems with it.. in fact for me it's the best choice because my wife had eclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy) and the doctor immediately advised my wife to do a CS after giving some medicines to lower her BP...it's very cheap..you will just have to pay 100 QR per day for room charge.. medicine and medical procedure are free...

The film "Wedding Crashers" came to mind :O)

britey, perhaps Rizks has just had experience delivering a baby in hamad...that is why...lol!

Hi..Congrats.

If you need opinion from an experienced person right away, I had my baby at Hamad Women's Hospital 5 months back. I personally feel that was the best possible treatment and care we could have got other than any other private hospitals in qatar (coz I had also done some research b4 fixing my hospital). I am not sure about other depts., but with O&G, Hamad itself is the best. As somebody has pointed out above, they even makes 2 reminder calls each before each of our appointments (monthly).

How come Rizks knows so much about this topic ?

yes sunshine, he can visit after delivery... and you have an option also if you want VIP room which cost around 800QR per day :)...and it is a good suite

YES, husbands can visit the Womens hospital after the delivery...coz after delivery you will be shifted to other section were visitors can visit you and see you cute, chubby, koo chi koo baby....:)

Wow, great info! Thank you all. I forgot to mention that I will most likely require a c-section delivery because of previous c-section. Is Al Ahli ok for this? I'm nervous about having surgery, especially if my husband can't be present. Also, since Hamad is a Women's hospital, are the husbands allowed to visit in your room after delivery?

I delivered both my boys at Al Ahli and would definitely recommend their ob/gyn's and facilities. Hamad may be free but I wanted my husband there when I delivered and because of that we didn't even consider Hamad.

I saw Dr Mythilli for my youngest and Dr Sven with my eldest and both were great - couldn't praise them enough.

Appointment waiting times vary. Sometimes I was there for 30 minutes but most of the time I was seen within 10 minutes.

Read today's article about HMC in Gulf-times on page 8

In Al-Ahli hospital you can be in the delivery room while your wife is giving birth.

Hamad Womens Hospital is the best. Given the number of cases they attend to everyday, they are experts in the field. They are also inexpensive. Compared to all the other hospitals here I would suggest Hamad only especially for childbirth.

I gave birth in Hamad Women's Hospital on October last year and im really thankful that I choose to give birth there than in other private hospital. I had a difficult birth and they told me that if I had delivered in Al Ahli they will also refer me to Hamad.

Cinnamon - My wife too has the gestational.. It's close to three months now.. and haven't came across any -ve attitude from any of them. (Thinking, may be the language barrier or accent sound harsh to you). We have been to Al-ahli too during her first pregnancy for check-ups, waited long time even when we had a valid appointment. (some times Qatari women get first preference, they rush in) as you said with mixed opinions ...we decided to have her pregnancy in our home country.

Seeing the experience in Hamad now our hearts and minds are free and decided to have her pregnancy in Hamad. As a matter of fact, she was admitted four days in Hamad to monitor her sugar level. Though I visited her now and then. The care, polite attendance, treatment was magnificent. Staying far away from our home country and helpless during a sensitive situation of human life, a hospital in an alien country taking this much care was really appreciable. I say again, Thank you Hamad, for taking care of our beloved ones.

Where were you delivered?

I forgot to mention one thing. Hamad is the best in facilities, but not in care. If you need extra care go to Al Ahli.

There is no doubt that Hamad is the best Hospital in Qatar. However, Husbands not allowed during routine checkup and delivery. If you prefer this option, you have to choose private hospital. In private hospitals, Al Ahli is the best.

First of all many congratulations to you!

From personal experience, I would say go to Al-Ahli...

I went to a private doctor during my first trimester and she recommended that I start going to Hamad Womens hospital as I had Gestational diabetes and they have better care there for emergencies, if any....

so I started going there for bi-weekly visits and tests... i had a terrible experience at that hospital... i was just a 'file' there and everytime i went, i was seen by a different doctor, although they said they were from the same team. Most doctors were very rude and impatient..the nurses were good though. The doctors almost always scared me a lot about my glucose level (which was just borderline) and i was stressed before and after each appointment. To see a specialist, you need to go to the evening clinic, which is very very busy and appointments are very difficult..

Finally in my 8th month, i decided to go to al-ahli as the stress of going to Hamad was too much for me. I was very happy with my experience at al-ahli! I chose to see Dr. Sujatha as i had heard a lot of good things about her...she answered all my questions patiently and even gave me her mobile number to call her whenever i had any queries or emergency. I called her when i started my labor pains (in the middle of the night!) and she answered my call and also spoke to the doctor who was on duty at that time in the emergency section.. As i was not scheduled for a C-Section, i just went to the ER and was admitted...i took an epidural as soon as i went in.. my husband was allowed to be with me all the time. The post natal care was also good there. All in all, i was happy i went to al-ahli...

In general, you will receive mixed opinions from everyone about all the hospitals here. Everyone's experiences are different and in the end it will be your opinion that you will have to rely on. So i would say, visit both the hospitals and then decide for yourself which suits you better.... wish you a happy pregnancy!

i gave birth in Doha as well last year in Al Ahli, however, i was lucky to check out Hamad Hospital since i was asked to meet a specialist to conduct a certain test.

if you must know, al ahli has limited specialists and equipment and most often than not, they recommend you to Hamad Hospital to do the test that they cannot provide.

hamad is practically free while al ahli requires premium fees. both has waiting period/time, which is a major concern for most clients. a lot of clients i saw in al ahli got turned off with it and it happened to me as well. however, waiting in hamad is somehow "accepted" considering you basically pay only 50 riyals for a checkup and including the test you are about to do...it is that cheap.

i chose al ahli because i want my husband and my family to be with me in the hospital.

--> hamad hospital

- cheap, 50 riyals plus you just have to show your

health card that can be secured easily

- clients are referred here to further checkup due to

their specialists and equipment

- husbands not allowed to be with you inside your

room once you deliver

- first come, first served...even if you have an

appointment, so i suggest you always go early

- birth certificate is easy

--> al ahli hospital

- checkups would set you back 300 riyals and 2 free

followups with your OB-GYNE (my OB-GYNE was that

German Doctor mentioned)

- even with appointment, expect to wait at least 30

minutes

- everyone in the family (male and female) are

welcome to be with you in the hospital

- have to submit the request for birth certificate to

Hamad hospital

this is not an exhaustive list, as these were based on my experience only..

hope this helps

If you have an insurance and can afford to pay...go for private hospital like Al Ahli and look for Dra Rizvi/Dr. Stefan...

or Doha Clinic...for Dra. Maha (She's my and my cousin's OB, we are both pregnant :)...for me she's great :)...but be patient coz she has a queue for not less than 50 patients per day...you should be early...

Sunshine- They will give you appointment card with timing on it, further you will receive a text message and one step ahead a reminder call from HMC two days prior to your appointment date. They strictly follow the appointment time.

Al Ahli will be a better choice

I just found the web sites for both hospitals, so I will read and make visits. I'd still like comments on personal experience and preferences. Thanks!

NO, they dont allow husbands in the delivery room.

Thank you. Can the husband be in the delivery room in Hamad? Ultimately, I prefer the best care and doctors, though. Are the delivery/recovery rooms private in Hamad?

Felix, do you know the earliest they saw your wife for her first appointment? We just found out, but would like to find a doctor and get a checkup soon.

It's well equipped, having world class reputation and facilities are available free of charge :)

Sunshine, Would recommend Hamad - Women's hospital. They really take good care of pregnant women. My wife just completed first trimester, she goes for her regular check-up's with pre-determined appointments in Hamad and says the treatment is incredible!

I heard a lot of good things about Hamad Hospital. I also heard a lot of good things about a certain German doctor at Al-Ahli. My wife and I are planning to have a baby next year and we could also use some advice based on actual experience.

Hamad hospital.It's a government hospital....after making health card every visit and testing is free..Doctors are also good..for medicine they take only 5 or 10 rial..for child birth only they take 100 or 200 rial only so go to Hamad

Hamad Hospital is the best !

Ahli and others are Just expensive....:(

Best place for childbirth is Hamad Women Hospital.They are caring, helpful, clean.

experience and caring..

Ahli hospital