Ob-gyn
I have mentioned in previous posts that health care in Cayman is private. Employers are by law required to provide it to their employees. The prenatal care is no exception. When you get pregnant the first thing you need to figure out is who your ob-gyn will be. There are many choices on the island but most go with either TrinCay (currently a three person ob-gyn practice, as well as two pediatricians and an anesthesiologist) or alternatively, Dr. Rommel El-Madany.The above ob-gyns both charge about CI$1500 for their services. This is usually not covered by insurance and even though they call it a deposit you will not get it back. We have an accountant friend who inquired through many emails with a nurse at one of ob-gyns about this cost. He wanted a breakdown of what they were for. Eventually the nurse got frustrated with him and in response to the question of why they charge this fee she replied back simply "because we can".
An interesting difference between the prenatal care offered here compared to other public health systems is that you get an ultra sound with every visit. This can be quite reassuring, especially if it is your first pregnancy!
Prep-Courses
The George Town (GT) hospital offers free courses although you will have to be very persistent to get the latest schedule. I personally did not find these very useful, but others did. You can get a tour of the GT maternity ward in the first class which is great, especially when you go into labor early and are a bit panicked. There are also paid classes offered by the (other Hospital) Chrissie Tomlinson Memorial Hospital.Hospital
There is only one maternity ward on island at this time and that is in the George Town hospital. I personally hated the entire hospital experience and have found others saying the same. There are a handful of nice and helpful midwives but you really never know who you are going to get. Also, all of the rooms are double which can be a bit annoying when recovering from the birth and also having visitors, let alone the limited space. I was very happy to be allowed to go home!
Thanks for the post! We are from Vancouver and are planning to move to the Cayman Island. We are planning our first pregnacy in the next two years, so prenatal care was a huge concern. Its good to know who we should contact to get more information and plan ahead!
ReplyDeleteHi DK, thank you for the post. My husband and I have recently moved to the island and are planning to have a baby here. I am trying to find out how much would the total prenatal 'experience ' cost ( all the private ob visits, ultrasounds & delivery), since it seems the insurance only covers 'hospital costs' and I really dont like surprises. Was the CI$1500 cost for observation visits, delivery or everything? Thank you, Izzy
ReplyDeleteHi Izzy,
DeleteIt all depends on your insurance coverage. The minimum will be $2000 for a simple labor within business hours (1500 for the ob-gyn and 500 for the hospital). If you have a C-section that goes up to about $4000 or so. If your labor/birthing falls outside normal business hours you will be charged extra. Also pain management is extra, ballpark 200 with insurance(that is 20% co-pay). All the cost I have mentioned are for labor and delivery only. The ob visits are separate. If you want more information from me personally there is an earlier blog post with a "private message" form where you can put in your email and I can email you more info or even my number for a chat :) http://caymanexpat.blogspot.com/2013/04/private-message.html
Thanks for the interesting information here.
ReplyDelete