Birthing babies in private healthcare - Thailand

A quick list of the good and the bad of having a baby in Bangkok. From one point of view. From only one hospital. So, this list might be slightly flawed but I did my research before selecting my hospital AND I did talk to lots of other mothers and their experiences at other private hospitals.

PROS

• The. Doctors. Are. Excellent. For the most part. Most of them are experienced and have studied from the West and are well educated/specialised in their fields. You can, also, shop around. You can choose a doctor that best fits your needs and even any personality requirements. I was looking mostly for a pro-natural birth doctor (something you need to search for, but more on that in the cons section) but I also got a laid back doctor, perfect for me. He didn't weigh me down with too much information or scaremongering. I know some people wanted a doctor that provided loads of information and boundaries. Select your preference, a strict teacher or someone more cuddly. Because at the end of the day, you want to like the person that you'll be visiting on a monthly basis.

• Great service. I had amazing food with a choice of Western, Thai or Japanese food for every meal and it felt like I was being pampered with my own private room. Nurses are more than happy to help you with anything.

• Hands on support on how to bath, breastfeed and swaddle your newborn in the 3-5 days that you stay at the hospital. As a first time mum, this was a comfort and helped ease the nerves of fear and “what the hell do I do” thoughts.

• State of the art equipment. Bed, TV, epidurals. According to my doctor, Bangkok anesthesiologists are better than Western doctors because of the amount of practice they get with the high number of c-sections the hospitals here perform.

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CONS

• Oh my days. So expensive. Especially when you consider some countries it's free. There is a range of pricing depending on the “package” you are going for: natural, epidural or C-section. They each have a different price point.

• Don't forget to read the small print of your packages. My hospital had an “emergency” charge if you had an urgent need to change from any of the other packages to a C-section. Therefore, if you didn't have a pre-planned, booked and dated in a calender C-Section, there is an additional charge. I guess for the inconvenience? This was just the one I went to, I do not know if this is universal. I have heard from some mothers that the epidural packages had a limit on how many times they would give you a top up. My hospital didn't, so I enjoyed the buffet vibes with mine.

• Depending on the hospital, they might have no fathers in the delivery room at time of pushing for those giving birth vaginally. This is not universal and even for the hospitals that say this, I don't know how strictly they would have adhered to this policy when push came to shove.

• Thailand has a high rate of C-sections. Not because Thais are more inclined to having difficult births but more cultural norms. There is a belief that this is a good way to avoid pain, stay “tight” and also you can pick your baby and auspicious birth date and time. On the hospital side, it is easy for the doctors to schedule, less time consuming and makes the hospital more money. I have heard from some mums that they had doctors that were pushing for c-sections. I did not, I picked a hospital and a doctor that advocates for natural birth and even drove from his holiday in Khao Yai when he heard I went into labour.

• Lack of birthing options. And positions available. Most private hospitals want you on the bed. I believe there was only one hospital I could find in 2020 that offered multiple options and had a water bath.

• Lack of and short time allotted to skin on skin time given. YOU NEED TO TELL AND RETELL your doctor your birthing plan. If this is something you want to do and no complications have occured, you might need to push for lengthy skin on skin time. They are very quick to take your newborn and clean them and put them in a warming incubator.

All in all, I had a great experience but you might need to shop around and do your research to get what you want. But at least you can shop around.