Obstetric care for expat....... advice needed!

[Clearblue!]

Can anyone offer good advice on choosing an obstetrician? Also, should I choose the hospital first and then the Dr....... not sure how the system works?

[yoongf]

Get the doctor first.
They have their preferred hospitals.

[Guest]

Hey I know your post was a while ago but if you haven't made your decision yet I would recommend Douglas Ong at Mount E. His offices are in the Mount E medical Centre. I think yhe clinic is called Douglas Ong clininc for women.

I had a baby with him in 2002 and he was brilliant and a nice man too. It was my third baby so he was happy for me to take the lead in what I wanted to do.

Mount E apparantely is the most expensive for delivery in Sing. All up the whole thing cost me about $6000- that includes all prenatal visits, the delivery and the hospital stay.

I have seen Doctor Ong since for other stuff and he always makes me feel like I am a special patient and that he remembers me and my situation.

And the best thing- he was 95% of the time on time for his appointments- that has to be the best![font=Arial] [/font]

[fourtrimesters]

The first thing to do is to decide what kind of birth you want. If you want a low intervention birth then ask around for an OB who has low intervention rates (ie rarely does inductions....doesn't routinely do episiotomies and has a low c-section rate) Paul Tseng is very popular because he welcomes birth plans, doulas and generally welcomes participation from his patients. If you are more comfortable with your Doctor making all the decisions ie birthing on the bed, constant monitoring and a more medicalized approach) then interview a few OBs and see who you feel most comfortable with. There is a very popular OB that many expats see Ann Hagerty. But you can expect very long delays when seeing her and a very managed approach. But if that's what you want then you may like her. Many Doctors in Singapore see birth as an illness....but once you know what you want out of the experience it makes finding a Doc who is on the same page as you a bit easier.

Forgot to add - some OBs can practise in several different hosptials so if you find a hospital you really like you can always ask if your OB can attend there also.

Best of luck

Tracy

http://www.fourtrimesters.com