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Medical expenses are not cheap in Saudi, suggest you to go back to US for the delivery.

stressedinjeddah wrote:

Hi everyone,
I'm starting this thread to collect advice from y'all. I'm new to Jeddah - got married and moved here about 10 months back. I am pregnant now with some serious complications! I was able do some 'doctor shopping' and finally picked a doctor that I like. Nothing compared to the level of doctors in America but again, beggars can't be choosers! Now that I have a doctor lined up, I'm wondering if any of you have any experience, or know of/heard of a good NICU here (if I end up with a preterm delivery). Also, letting you know that I don't have health insurance here (since I'm still on a visit visa) so please do mention the costs also. I appreciate it so much!
P.S: I just signed up for this website. Looking forward to new friends and share knowledge

About 20k for normal (yes, normal not ceacarian)

You can find NICU at king faisal hospital.

Why not delivery in USA ? Specially after mentioned "has serious complication"

Hi Hamudi and Other then the other,
Thanks for your replies! I appreciate it.
I would've loved to go back to U.S for delivery but it's too late already...I've been put on strict bedrest which means traveling is out of the question! Plus my husband doesn't have a visa and getting a spousal visa takes a long time. I would be totally by myself IF I somehow manage to land there!
Anyhow...I'm still looking. One option I found was National Guard Hospital - it's a military hospital but open to expats on cash basis...I'm thinking since it's a government entity, it might not be crazy expensive like the private hospitals.
Wish me luck. As soon as I find out more, I'll update the forum, just to share info!
Ciao.

stressedinjeddah wrote:

Hi Hamudi and Other then the other,
Thanks for your replies! I appreciate it.
I would've loved to go back to U.S for delivery but it's too late already...I've been put on strict bedrest which means traveling is out of the question! Plus my husband doesn't have a visa and getting a spousal visa takes a long time. I would be totally by myself IF I somehow manage to land there!
Anyhow...I'm still looking. One option I found was National Guard Hospital - it's a military hospital but open to expats on cash basis...I'm thinking since it's a government entity, it might not be crazy expensive like the private hospitals.
Wish me luck. As soon as I find out more, I'll update the forum, just to share info!
Ciao.

Awww poor you

There is doula in Jeddah I know experienced. And, there is local group Who is involved in helping women who give birth. Do let me know if you need any support!

Oh ya, my American friend went to
Souliman Fakeeh. Her experience was been wonderful with Dr. Amira Saleh (fantastic but has a large patient caseload so it's tricky to get in with her initially) There is also a Dr. Genwah (I know I am spelling that wrong sorry) who is great and a specialist. Both very personable and knowledgable.

Keep in touch!

Hi,

Have you got your situation sorted? There's a new government hospital - East Jeddah Hospital (next to Sulaimaniyah Mall) they are open to expats on cash basis. Their maternity unit is not fully functioning yet, but their clinics are. You can try to find out if they will have a NICU unit in their hospital, I assume they would.

Btw, I'm a Doula. Let me know if I can assist you further. Wishing all the best for your labor and delivery.

Hi Nour,
Thanks a lot for your reply! I was able to get into National Guard Hospital - that's also on cash basis. We had to pay 10k deposit for delivery. They do have a great NICU but I don't know what the costs for that would be like. And whether they'd ask us for deposit/advance payment if, god forbid, I go into preterm labor.
Do u know of any government hospital (with an on-site NICU) that treats expats without asking for a deposit?!
Thanks for any help u could provide.

Hey girl,
Thanks for your replies n concern.
A doula told me about National Guard and I'm looking into it.
I was going to Suleiman Fakeeh myself (I was seeing Sehar Mouludy, excellent doc!) but that's a private hospital and the delivery costs are more than a governmental unit of course. And especially after I started having this complex situation and realized that I might need NICU facilities...I gave up the idea of a private hospital altogether!!!
Do u know of any government hospital, with an on-site NICU, willing to admit expats without asking for a deposit/advance payment?
Thanks a lot! I appreciate any help...

Hello,

I hope everything will go well for u.
Did you try getting a medical insurance?

Assya

Hiya

I use to work at the National Guard Hospital.  I'd recommend Professor Khalid Abbas if he is still there, I was seeing him up until I finished working there when I was 19wks. He's UK trained and very pro natural delivery, and will only intervene when totally necessary.  The NICU there is pretty good too.  As for paying no deposit I don't think you'll find anywhere, they are all worried about people doing a runner without paying.

I had a great experience at the IMC with my delivery but we were covered by insurance. 

On a side note, a friend delivered here whilst on a US visit visa 6 months ago, they still don't have an iqama for the baby so cannot travel.  They had problems with the birth notification being released from the hospital and also getting the birth certificate done at the ministry. My advice would be to get you visit visa changed to a residents permit before delivery.

Good luck

Hey .. Can you message me. East Jeddah Hospital is opened and has NICU facility. They welcome expats (cash basis), and their price is lower than National Guard. If you PM me I can guide you on how to go about. And, they are located in Jeddah itself, which means commuting won't be a big hassle in case your child will be in NICU.

Hi Other then the Other  (what's your name by the way? I can't see any names...is that how it is for everyone or do I have to change my settings or something?)

So I'm at National Guard Hospital now, no more at Suleiman Fakeeh. Very happy with the hospital.

Thanks for mentioning the doula organization...I got in touch with one but she was offering a package, starting at the beginning of your pregnancy all the way to the end, accompanying u in labor room even. And the charges were a hefty sum, something like 7,000 riyals. That's a lot...especially considering I'm already in the later stages! Do you know of any other kind of doula deals?

Thanks again for your help and comments (K)

Hi ab2017,
I'm on a visit visa here - no insurance company is willing to give me insurance on the visa and especially now that I'm pregnant

Hey milly147,
Extremely sorry for such a tardy response. I somehow lost track of my account activity at expat.com! Apologies for replying so late.
First off, thanks a billion for your recommendation - although I'm a patient of Dr. Fatma Noorwali but it so happened that she's unavailable the whole month of Aug up until 3rd week of Sep, and I'm due Sep 11 so we had to switch doctors. We found this out today and because of you I knew to go with Dr. Khalid Abbas )) I'm going to be seeing him on aug 2nd enshallah. I'll let you know how it goes...I'm sure he's excellent.

Also, cuz you alerted us, we went to the registration department to confirm if they are ok issuing a birth notification if the mother is on a visit visa. They said it shouldn't be a problem but God knows better. I guess we'll have to wait and see. We also asked them if they could add my passport number on the document and they said yes to that even!!! Usually over here only the dad's iqama/passport number is mentioned but I don't want any troubles with the American embassy when I apply for baby's U.S. passport so I wanna make sure they'll add my passport number also. Hope it all goes well. Iqama isn't really an option for me...my husband is having some trouble at his workplace and the baby is due before the stuff would get sorted out.
Khair enshallah

Thanks so much once again!!!

Hi Nour,
I'm happy at National Guard Hospital and wouldn't wanna switch at such a later stage in my pregnancy. But thanks so much for your offer to guide me. Much appreciated.
You said you're a doula...what are your charges like? You can PM me...your contact info would come in handy
Thanks again!!!

No need for apologies, you're busy cooking a baby!

I'm very pleased you got sorted. I'm sure you will like him, again I'm not sure of he is still there, but there was an associate consultant called Dr Saud & also Dr Noura, if you're lucky enough to have either of them on Prof Khailds service all you will be on wonderful hands! Please pass my regards (Amelia from Anaesthesia) on to them. 

Take care and rest up. Make the most of your quiet as it will soon be baby time!

Yep Dr. Khalid Abbas is still there and I'm seeing him on Aug 2nd. I hope he doesn't bail out on me last minute like Dr. Noorwali. Well if he does then I'll be on a lookout for Dr. Saud and Dr. Noura

I'll be sure to pass on your regards! Hope your baby is doing good also?

By the way...just a piece of info (for all...) 10K is the deposit for delivery that National Guard asks for BEFORE making an appointment with an OB-GYN. And the monthly costs for NICU, for your baby is 45K/month. They do NoT ask for an upfront payment of this since your baby might actually end up needing more or less than a month in NICU. Let me say this out...45K is three times cheaper than what any of the private hospital NICUs charge for the month.

Anyone needing any info...please feel free to reach out to me. I've been digging deep!

Thanks Amelia. Please stay in touch.
God bless.

Hiya

Just wanted to check in and see how everything is going?

Hey Amelia,
How are you? Great to read from you!
I did say Hi to Dr. Abbas from your side. He was happy to have heard from you and said to give you his regards. Asked how you're doing also...

I'm doing great - completed my 37 week mark, thank god. Out of the cruicial time period and in the safe zone now! My due date is September 10th - so yep...couple more weeks now. Hoping for a natural delivery! Dr. Noorwali would be on vacation and I don't think Dr. Abbas is ever on call - so let's see if I get lucky and Dr. Saud or Dr. Noura are there! Thanks for letting me know about all these great doctors - awesome to have the inside info

How are you and your little one doing? Are you gonna go back to working at NGH once the baby is a little older? What's your day like these days? I'm trying to get a glimpse of my future

Thanks Amelia for checking in on me - really appreciate it. Will wait for your response.
Xoxo

Hiya

I'm glad everything went well, and now you're in the homeward straight with a bit of a waiting game added in! Soon you won't know what day of the week it is lol. 

Not planning on going back to work whilst we're here, maybe when we head back to the UK. 

We're good, they grow far to quickly. Our days....well......we're on a small compound and with no other small kids so we are out quite a bit.  We go to a mother and baby/toddler group twice a week (I'll message you the details if you like) and go on playdates with a friend and her little one.

xx

@NourAboBakr hi do you know in RIYADH who can help me about my delivery I'm high risk pregnant highblood pressure and with gestational diabetes my Ob GYNe asked me to look for bigger hospital who has NICU tried went to King Salman Hospital and Shemesy Hospital but no NICU available they asked me to go private hospitals unfortunately I don't have that enough money to pay for a Private NICU😔