I chose to give birth at MMC for the following reasons:

* My OB. His clinic hours were convenient and his professional fee is also reasonable compared to other OBs. He was recommended by a family friend, and I have to say he took really good care of me from the get go.

* The hospital is near my office and apartment.

* Quality care. You have to admit, MMC is a reputable hospital, especially after their recent revamp.

As early as our first meeting, I already discussed the possible costs involved with giving birth at MMC. He explained that MMC has maternity packages and provided me a pamphlet for reference. The prices on the pamphlet were outdated, but I’ll share them with you anyway.

My doctor determined that I would need to undergo another Caesarean Section since I already had the same procedure before and he was not confident enough in my previous OB’s stitches to allow a Normal Delivery. Understandable, as I would not want to have my abdomen rip apart while pushing my baby out. The Caesarean Section package costs P82,000. Please note though that their prices are subject to change, so if you would like to confirm the most updated fees, I recommend you contact MMC and have yourself transferred to the Delivery Room for more information (no, it is not the actual delivery room).

Fast forward to my delivery date (June 19, 2013).

I was instructed by my doctor to have myself admitted by 9AM. My husband and I arrived at MMC at around 8:30AM. I was asked to provide some basic information such as my name, date of birth, address, nationality, etc. and I also had to present two valid IDs. A few minutes later I was asked to settle the down payment for the package which amounted to P65,600. When I returned to Admissions I was asked to sign some standard paper work and then I was wheeled to my room.

Now the package I mentioned above comes with a semi-private room, but since all the semi-private rooms were occupied, we were upgraded to a small private room at no additional cost. However, we were asked to sign an agreement requiring us to transfer to a semi-private room once available. Lucky for us, we got to stay in the same room until I was discharged! Here are some pictures of the small private room:

At around 10AM I was wheeled out for some tests which were not included in the package. These tests were ordered by my doctor as extra precaution in case I would require a blood transfusion after he determined that my hemoglobin was below normal. By 11AM I was being prepped for surgery and before I knew it, it was party time!I prefer not to post any pictures of me in the Delivery Room because I was a horrid mess and I was crying the whole time (Tears of joy, of course). As soon as I heard my baby crying, I was overwhelmed with emotions – I wanted to laugh and cry, I was just so happy. I was also glad to see my husband enter the delivery room. In case you are wondering, there is an additional “Companion Fee” to have your husband enter the delivery room, which is exclusive of the P82,000. Based on my bill, these are the fees:

Delivery Companion Fee P578
Gloves P70
Gown P82.50

The next thing I remember was being brought to the recovery room. While I was resting, a nurse from the nursery brought my baby to educate me about breastfeeding. At around 5PM I was brought back to my room and at about 10PM my son was roomed in with me.

While I was resting my husband showed me some freebies provided by the hospital which included stuff for the baby like cotton, baby wipes, and baby wash. There was also stuff for parents like soap, shampoo, a toothbrush, and a razor for daddy.

Thankfully I was able to recover fast and was discharged by June 22nd. Now here comes the disappointing part of the experience – BILLING!

I prepared my Philhealth paperwork beforehand so that we wouldn’t need to go through the painstaking process of having everything reimbursed after my recovery. Since we already settled the down payment of P65,600 and the Philhealth deduction amounted to P11,400 I was expecting we would only need to pay a few thousand more considering additional tests were done. Much to our surprise, we were billed a whopping P100,997.48 in total, meaning the remaining fee we had to pay was P23,997.48! Yikes!

The additional fees included my post op medications, the additional tests, the companion fees, syringes and IVs and other miscellaneous items. I was so disappointed because I wasn’t expecting to pay that much, but my parents convinced me it was fine as long as my son and I were safe and healthy. Good thing my husband and I prepared more than P82,000, so he settled the bill and we went home.

Despite the surprises with my bill I can still say that I was satisfied with the overall experience with giving birth at MMC. My doctor took very good care of me and the nurses were friendly and accommodating. However, there were a few slight disappointments during our stay:

* The temperature in our room kept changing – it was either too warm or too cold. This annoyed me because it was not good for the baby. We had to call the nurses every now and then to adjust the temperature.

* The nurses’ response time. Most of them took forever to arrive so when it was urgent I had to press the nurse call button multiple times just to get their attention.

* The resident OBs failed to clean my CS wound throughout my entire stay. I was itchy from the gauze and tape the whole time and it turns out that my OB left specific instructions to have them clean my wound everyday. It was only upon discharge that the nurses realized this, and they immediately contacted the resident OB on shift to clean my wound (and she took her sweet precious time even though she was told I was about to leave already).

So that pretty much sums up my birthing experience at MMC. I’m glad that I decided to give birth there as I was confident that I was in good hands. I was healthy, my baby was healthy – what more could I ask for?If you’re planning to give birth at MMC, I recommend that you contact the Delivery Room as suggested earlier as my bill may vary from yours depending on your circumstances. It would also be wise to prepare a little extra just in case. I hope you find this post useful and I’ll be glad to answer any questions you may have about my birthing experience.

Makati Medical Center
www.makatimed.net.ph
8888 999

 

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