Pantai KL vs UMSC

When Dr. Kamaljit told us that UMSC was half the price of Pantai Hospital for a C section, we decided to pay UMSC a visit to see if it was worth the savings.

Prior to this we've already gone to pay a visit to Pantai KL and here are 3 top reasons why we've decided to go with Pantai, despite the higher cost of delivery.

1. Professionalism

When we went to Pantai Hospital for our first visit, everyone whom we spoke English to, replied back in English & didn't assume that we were locals.
I'm really sick and tired of people automatically assuming that we are Malaysians and STILL attempting to talk to us in Bahasa despite us speaking in English/telling them that we are not locals.  At UMSC, this was what we experienced. Other than the super long wait to see Dr. Valli which resulted in John confronting the nurses at the desk (I mean, what's the whole point of booking an appointment if we're going to arrive on time and STILL wait 1-2 hours to see the doctor?!), we also experienced incompetent nurses who dodged responsibilities when questioned.

In addition to that, the gynae we were assigned to was muddle-headed to say the least and we were quite surprised when we tell her our preferred C section date and 5 minutes later she points out the incorrect date range. She was very forgetful on numerous other occasions and John already started feeling uncomfortable at the thought of her being our c sect surgeon.

2. Accreditation

Pantai KL is one of the top 3 JCI accredited hospitals in KL, and for good reasons. With top facilities and a competent group of doctors and surgeons it's not hard to imagine why.

On the other hand, UMSC is still working towards their accreditation, and my mother kindly pointed out a poster on their hospital walls saying that one of their top goals is to eventually become accredited.

3. Facilities & Ease of mobility

UMSC Hospital has a very complex building structure, with 2 separate wings under the same building (government wing, and private non-government wing) and unclear instructions, which is NOT going to come in handy when you hage to rush to the hospital and make your way to the appropriate ward. Even the nurse we spoke to didnt know how to help us get back to the parking space.

Oh and parking is another painful situation altogether. Lots are super tight and impossible to find most of the time. There are also unclear parking signs all over the place that if you were a newbie to this hospital, you'd definitely get lost the first few times.

On the other hand, parking at Pantai KL is very straightforward. You enter the parking space from the main road and taking the lift leads you right up to the main lobby. At the main lobby there is a front desk with staff who speak English and helps you with your queries, WITH A SMILE. And a smile, especially in Malaysia, makes a world of a difference.

Facilities and surroundings here are definitely newer, more modern - looking and the overall atmosphere is more lively, cleaner and just generally makes you feel better about the prospect of getting hospitalised.
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Having said all these, you definitely get what you pay for. That's how the world works - pay a bit more for better service, better facilities and better quality. And John and I have decided that because it concerns our baby and my health, that money is not an issue. I've been fighting the idea of going to Pantai because of how much a C section will end up costing us (and this is not even taking into account other potential costs involved such as NICU costs etc ***touchwood***) and I've clearly expressed that to John, but he has given me the reassurance that everything will be just fine with our finances. He really wants the best for us (bubs and i) and he didn't have a good feeling at all about UMSC to start with.

So, 4 more days till the big day. :-)

[Tuesday Tips] Dealing with a Bicornuate Uterus

As I was trudging through a pile of old documents, I came across a doctor's MRI report from 2013 stating that I have a "Bicornuate Uterus" with 2 uterine horns.

For those who have no knowledge about what this means, a bicornuate uterus is basically a uterine abnormality that affects only a small portion of the female population whereby your uterus doesn't develop as it should when you're a foetus in your mother's womb. Instead of the normal inverted per-shaped uterus that most females carry, mine is heart-shaped with 2 horns and a septum dividing both horns.

One thing I am unsure of though is how deep the septum is & something I would love to find out once I deliver AJ. I'll keep in mind to ask Kamaljit this in the next appointment. Anyway, this explains several things as below.

1. Higher occurrence of a breeched position

Because your little one literally only occupies half the space in the womb, there is a higher chance that he/she will be and will stay in a breeched position. This is especially true if he/she is still breeched after 30 weeks because there is little chance that they will turn given the reduced amount of space and amniotic fluid as he/she grows bigger by the week.

Hence, because of this, and because I am already 2 days away from my 36th week of pregnancy, I will be going to UMSC to schedule my C-section date next week. Kamaljit recommends a C-section at UMSC as it is half the price (8-10k) of having a C-section at Pantai Hospital (15-20k). In addition to that, the doctors at UMSC are more specialised for this type of delivery/surgical procedure.

2. A lopsided belly

Again, your baby is most likely going to occupy only one of the horns, hence your belly will be lopsided for most of your pregnancy. For me, this only got more obvious with time as he grew bigger you could see a more distinct difference between the two sides of my belly.

My more "dominant" horn is the left one, where AJ constantly resides in.

I know he's been trying to turn the past week or so (because his heads sinks downwards) but he never gets past the transverse position and this is most likely because of limited space. My poor lil sweetie - at least he tried.

There are several ways to attempt to turn a breeched baby which I will go into detail in my next post and I will attempt to use one of the more well-known, natural methods (i.e going on all fours every night for 15-20 minutes) in these last few weeks and cling on to the very little hope that he will finally turn before the 37th week.

Cardiologist visit

We went for my appointment with Prof Chee Kok Han at UMSC yesterday (at 25+2 weeks) and wasn't too impressed.

First impressions : He had a very condescending nature about him. John would say he was a cynical man.
Some questions that he asked were redundant but felt like he asked them just to show that he's in a higher level of authority than everyone else.
Case in point : He finds out I'm on metformin and asks "Do you even know what metformin is for? Tell me what you think it is for." I was quite taken aback at first, his questions felt intrusive, then right after I gave an answer (based on my research etc) he said "Okay well I'm asking not because I don't know - I just want to know if you know what you are even ingesting."
Uhhh okay.. you just wasted 10 minutes of my time treating me as though I'm a bloody kid. You could've told me right from the start what metformin was about and why you're even talking about metformin when you're a CARDIOLOGIST.

Anywho all this while he was googling metformin and then 20 mins in; he realize he was veering off topic and we finally got back on track - talking about my VSD repair. He sent me to get an echo done and I got the original hardcopy results that costed us RM100! 

The total bill came to a hefty RM480 by the way, and Prof Chee's consultation fee was RM160 compared to RM80 for Prof Valli. Daylight robbery, anyone??

I'm also going to have to find out from HR this Friday if this is something that I can claim from work insurance.  Oh and my passport has finally been endorsed so John and I can book our flight to Bangkok soon for a massive baby clothes haul!! Whee ~

To briefly conclude our experience, everything about UMSC and UMMC has disappointed us for far, except for the convenient in-clinic shuttle van that takes between the two buildings for free. And that's why we've decided not to deliver at UMMC - visiting pantai in a few weeks.