I'm a FTM in my 5th month (due in August) and after shopping around i found a fabulous doctor that i connected with at BNH - Dr Vorachai. I first thought he was too young or inexerienced (I am in my early 40s), but we connected and I felt comfortable with him and his approach towards me. I would be really interested to hear from any other women who have had him as their obs/gyn. Also, I would really like to hear of any birth experiences at BNH.
Thanks
Loren
Hi Loren - good to see you've found a great doctor at BNH! I had my son Lawrie at BNH last July - which was a great experience - and most importantly, was contrary to what I'd heard leading up to the delivery. Our doctor was Dr Wiboon (who's a bit older than Dr Vorachai) and heads up the Women's Centre. We connected with him really well, after some earlier experiences (pre-pregnancy) I'd had with one of the 'more mature' female doctors at BNH. Finding him was a stroke of luck as I selected him from photos on the BNH website, on the basis that he'd worked outside Thailand and therefore may understand weird farang women a bit more than the previous doctor I had encountered. I too am in my early 40s and, despite being described on every form as an 'elderly primigravidae', which I objected to several times to the great amusement of everyone concerned, I was able to overcome early concerns we had about whether this was the right doctor and the right hospital for us. About 4-6 weeks before Lawrie was born, we used our birth plan to really drive home what we did and didn't want with Dr Wiboon (who annotated it in Thai in our file) - glad we did as it uncovered a number of differences of opinion that may have arisen by the time we got to the labour room, especially around when/how to administer pain relief, how we wanted our doula, Sue, to be involved (a v novel concept for Dr Wiboon, a first time for him I think) etc. Dr Wiboon was also really proactive in using the birth plan as a tool to ensure his other colleagues (our now paediatrician and the anaesthsiologist) understood what we wanted for our natural birth and we had separate meetings with them to discuss these. We were really impressed by the fact that by the time we reached the labour room, the staff on duty had also read our file and could quote bits of the birth plan to us! The labour room team were also really open to working alongside Sue, our doula - again a first time experience for them resulting in some great teamwork over 8 hours! In the end, I had to have an emergency c-section - but that was only after I got stuck at 8cm for 4hrs at which point Lawrie's fetal heart rate dropped and Dr Wiboon felt there was absolutely no way a natural birth was possible. All the staff involved were really disappointed for me as I was wheeled off into surgery but it was the right call and there was a small cheer when the squalling screaming Lawrie finally made his entrance into the world (especially by one of our labour room nurses who stayed with me during the surgery even though her shift was over). Whilst I was really disappointed at not having the natural birth we'd planned for, we have nothing but happy memories and praise for the care we received at BNH. I could go on and on... Happy to talk to you separately about this if there's anything else you'd like to know. Best of luck for August, Fiona
Two friends of mine have recently given birth at BNH with Dr.Worachai, and they were both totally satisfied! One of them had a planned c-section, the other one had a natural birth, a medicated one though. Anyway, he seems to be one of the best at BNH!
I've had a bad experience with Dr.Boonlert at BNH, so I wouldn't actually advise him to anyone,
Hi Anastasia,
Could you please elaborate on your experience with Dr. Boonlert? I am 5 months pregnant and have found him to be exceptional. I believe everyone has a difference experience with hospitals and doctors, but I would certainly be interested to hear your feedback so that I could be aware of any potential issues.
Thanks again, Karmen.
Well, I was a first time mother too, in my early 20s, which made me really very anxious about pregnancy and birth. I studied a lot of stuff about natural birth and my pregnancy was absolutely healthy with no complications. I was determined to give birth in the most natural way possible. From the early weeks until 7 months I found Dr. Boonlert totally fine. However, when it came to my birth plan, he did not accept my wishes for natural birth, saying that I was naive and must have read too many books. Certainly I was very displeased and scared, because I was 7 months pregnant already, but still I switched doctors and hospitals and was extremely happy about this afterwards. In the end, I had a great natural birth with Dr. Sankiat in Samitivej. And after all I felt like seeing Dr.Boonlert again to tell him that I'm the proof that true natural birth IS really possible, after he was trying to convince me it wasn't. Of course everybody has their own approach, but BNH hospital is definitely no place for natural birth. From what I've heard about Dr. Vorachai he seems to be an exception. But if you're not that particular about having a natural birth, Dr. Boonlert may be fine, still I would advise to make a birth plan and discuss it with him.
If you want to know the details of my experience, I've gathered them in my birth story. http://parentvine.net/1410/water-birth-in-bangkok/
That's great, thanks for letting me know.
Great to read everyone's responses to this and really insightful to hear the positive stories that come out of BNH as I had only heard the negative. Thanks
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