Having a baby at Muscat Private Hospital - a review



Now, some of you may know that I wrote 2 years ago about my wife and I's experience of having a baby at Starcare hospital. It is still to this day a very regularly read blog post here on MM, and I like to think that the review was of some help to people trying to chose where to have their baby here in Muscat.

A few months ago, my wife and I had our second child, and this time we went to MPH - basically because we didn't like a few things about Starcare before, and because we wanted to try a different hospital. I want to make it very clear right here that we never once mentioned to the hospital that we were reviewing them, or that I'd be writing anything here on this blog - not that this blog is that big or anything but to make it clear that we experienced what we consider to be "normal" service.

This time round we opted to pay as we went - we didn't buy a pre natal package like we did at Starcare, and I think we did a bit better this time - we paid for our doctors appointments, some tests & injections, and some scans. The total cost of the pregnancy (before birth) came in at around 430 rials, which had 2 Anti-D injections, a number of tests, 3 scans, and 12 Dr's visits. The package 2 years ago at Starcare was 400 plus an additional 120 for the Anti-D injections and additional charges for scans that we needed due to complications.

Our doctor this time was Dr Pritima Kaushik, and our experience with her was fabulous - I'd have no problems going to her again if we were to have another child. A serious cause of annoyance at Starcare was that we would have an appointment at say 10am - but rarely ever actually saw our doctor before 11:30 - and quite often it was a lot longer of a wait than that - one time I remember it was 3 or so hours late. Our appointments at MPH were also late - but no where near as bad - I think the worst delay we had was about an hour - but usually our appointments were within half an hour of the appointed time, and quite regularly less than that.

However, one thing that was really great at Starcare, and super annoying at MPH was that your doctor at Starcare will also perform your scans for you, in the same appointment. MPH, you see your doctor, and you also have to make appointments for your ultrasounds separately. Not so bad if you're on your first kid, but when you have a 1.5 year old (she was 2 at the time of the birth), its another set of obstacles you have to do, and another trip to the hospital.

Fortunately for us, this pregnancy was more or less healthy from start to finish (there were complications with the first one which required more visits and scans - and thus increased annoyance at late appointments). Dr Pritima was very supportive of having a VBAC (you'll know what I'm talking about if this matters to you) but ultimately we opted to have a second C section that was scheduled at 38 weeks - 10 days before the due date.


Our doctor told us to come to MPH at 7am on the day of our scheduled C section, but the day before we got a call from MPH telling us not to come until 10am - so we got there at 10am. A mix up in the administration department, because when we got there, the nurses were like where have you been?! Perhaps a blessing in disguise because a little over an hour later Mrs Sythe was being wheeled into the operating theatre to have our baby!

A note on that, the orderly who wheeled her to the operating theatre can only be accurately described as an asshole. He managed to bang her bed into pretty much everything on the way, to the point he even caught her drip which was suspended on a pole above her bed on a door and screwed up the cannula in her hand. Asshole. I mean, how hard is it to push a bed in a straight line, especially when it is part of your job to do that so many times a day?

Mrs Sythe was in the operating theatre preparing to receive her epidural when she started to get very nervous (I think mostly because of the traumatic experience at Starcare 2 years before) and Dr Pritima took control immediately and ordered a general anaesthetic. She sent a nurse out to me to tell me what was going on and so I at least knew what was going on this time.

A few minutes later I was called to the theatre's anti-room where the worlds joint-most cute baby was waiting for me (I'm still biased) - I even got to cut her cord this time - something Starcare didn't allow me to do either (because baby #1 was born under a general as well). For those dad's out there that have cut the cord.... I was surprised at how hard it was to cut!!

Mrs Sythe remained to be stitched up and I went off with my baby to get her cleaned up and into some clothes. The room we had was a standard suite, en-suite shower and toilet, the bed with a fridge and a large comfortable sofa and also a chair with a foot rest. The TV was there but we didn't really watch it much. The room was bigger than the one we had at Starcare, as was the toilet and shower - also bigger.

But I think most importantly about the room for me as a guy, the sofa bed was SO much more comfortable than the horrible grey torture device they called a sofa bed at Starcare (although I understand they've changed them now - thank God).

For the ladies, something to note about the differences between having a C section at Starcare and at MPH. Dr Pritima stitched Mrs Sythe up excellently (she healed a lot quicker this time) but the main difference was that Dr Pritima left a drainage tube at the very edge of the incision site which was connected to a collection bag left on the floor next to the bed. This wasn't done at Starcare (and apparently isn't done very much anywhere we've asked) but had one very very big advantage - the blood inside the ladies has to go somewhere, and instead into a pad, it goes into this bag, meaning it's a lot more comfortable for them in those crucial first few days after having a C section. Yes I know it's gross but there we are.

The midwife, Gilda, who ran the night shift the first night after the birth was excellent, and noticed that Mrs Sythe's cannula was messed up (thanks to the asshole earlier) and fixed it which made things a lot better. The nurses were very supportive of breastfeeding, but were also very helpful to give top-up formula from a cup to keep baby well-fed.

In the following days, a nutritionist and a physiotherapist visited Mrs Sythe to give her some advice and tips on what to do and what not to do - a nice touch we thought. The room-service was fast and attentive, and the food was actually pretty good. All in all, after 3 nights, we went home, and upon dis-charge from the hospital, we were given a pack of information, along with a few freebies (diaper bag, sudocreme, some nappies and a few other bits and pieces) along with an emergency contact number.

A few days after we got home, baby had a small issue with her eyes, and we rang the emergency number, which was promptly answered by a nurse who asked a few questions about the symptoms and then told us what to do, which worked. BIG difference compared to Starcare, where the phone was answered, we were asked if we were in labour and when we said no, they just hung up on us. Yeah, that happened.

The 2 week checkup with Dr Pritima, and the 2 week checkup with Dr Hans (paediatrician) were included in the birth package we purchased for RO 1,400. Now, I'm a bit annoyed about this price because when we first went to see Dr Pritima, I checked out the birth packages for a Scheduled C section and it was RO 1250, and then we invested and were loyal to our doctor and hospital, and our reward was a jacked up price for the C Section.

The service and the experience - for us - was night and day so much better than what we experienced at Starcare. I'm not saying MPH is better than Starcare for having a baby, I'm saying that my wife and I, who are in what must be a very small group of people who have actually had children in both hospitals, definitely prefer MPH.

I hope this helps someone, and if your expecting and picking a hospital here in Muscat to have your child - congratulations and good luck!

le fin.
Having a baby at Muscat Private Hospital - a review Having a baby at Muscat Private Hospital - a review Reviewed by Sythe on Monday, January 12, 2015 Rating: 5

8 comments:

  1. I totally second your review. I have had the most amazing and stress free delivery at MPH. And Gilda- She was brilliant..so dutiful and responsible. I would give MPH all my votes for having your delivery there and believe you me it all costed me not more than RO 600! The hygiene, comfort and the care was commendable as compared to other hospitals here!

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    1. Plz could u tell me wich doctor is best for delivery in MPH?

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  2. Just yesterday i read your experience at the starcare hospital , persoanlly im very scared of the doctors here dont know why maybe because of my experience. I got a missed abortion last week and thankfully got it aborted through medicines and didnt need a dnc but hell it cost me way toooo much and I was kind of not satisfied with the dr's attitude too. on the first visit she was very humble , said things that satisfied me , this was a second miscarriage and I was too depressed just needed kind words and assurance that il have a successful pregnancy in the coming days and she did just that, told me that i need to get some investigations done but since they are very expensive here , I can get them done from my homeland adn she will write them for me but she didnt in that visit , I was scheduled for a visit in two days aaaand it was then that i was confused if i wanted to see the doctor ever again , like first i had to wait for 3 long hours to see her in a condition when it was uncomfortable for me to sit and wait , then she just did and ultrasound and gave me some more medication when i asked her to right for me the investigations she needed , she went like when you will go to your homeland , your doctor there will also know and she will write them for you but if you want i can write them for you , man ? was I paying 25 ryals for ? to know that a doctor in my homeland will guide me ? then she didnt hand me the ultrasound report , when i asked for it the nurse gae me a weird look like you want the ultrasound report for what ? but ok il ask the dr ..was i paying 28 ryals for just a minute long scan and dr doesnt hand me the report ,it happens where? what kind of a service was this , after that i again asked the dr kindly write th investigations for me because i was planning to see her later and i wanted everything to be done with her guidance but again she was very reluctant to write them and that made me annoy her that whatever it is i want youu to write them for me since i was being stubborn she got a little angry but still wrote and in that anger she said that you dont need them actually , you will have a successful pregnancy in future , this kind of miscarriage happens and is normal . so here my questions raised as to why she had to guide me wrong because with the little knowledge i have i knew that i didnt need the tests yet , anyway all this doesnt want me to see the dr again and i want to go back to my homeland for the first trimester and the delivery later. the drs there are very competent and patient..if the dr is charging you so high she needs to be patient with you and guide you properly .anyway i hope things get better for me the next time , congrats on your new born

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  3. Congrats on your little bundle of joy.....Yipeee :)

    (3 more to go) jk

    Explains why you were MIA for sometime. My other phone went blitz so couldnt get in touch.

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  4. Muscat Private is great---unless they cause the death of their patient---then the admin won't even ask the doctor to say sorry of apologize on their behalf.

    Which makes me avoid them totally. They killed my stepfather. They told him he was not sick. They refused treatment. Then it was too late by the time he was allowed to go to Royal Hospital. His illness has progressed to a point treatment would not help.

    Muscat private---no one said sorry. No one admitted a mistake. And this mistake was obviious.

    If they made a mistake during a c-section that caused a death there'd be a cover-up I am sure. You would never know the truth. I myself, couldn't live with that so I don't recommend MPH (even though I know their fertility clinic is the best in Oman for example, and some very good doctors work there).

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  5. Sorry for my typos. I was passionately and angrily finger-pecking that comment;)

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  6. MPH is a complete ripoff - they care only about getting your money before you get the treatment that you need. The doctors are so money oriented that I guess they never took the Hippocratic oath. It's not a hospital, it's a business enterprise that care less about the person and more about the profit they will make. It's a disgrace - the so-called medical staff should be ashamed of themselves.

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  7. Thanks for sharing this information.
    Its useful.

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