I used my work related trip today to check out one of the hospitals in Manila. I have read raving blog posts about it, so I was quite excited to check it out. And I was not disappointed.
When I entered, the lobby felt more like a luxury hotel lobby than a hospital. There was piano music playing and on my way out I realized that there actually was a pianist playing on a concert piano. Posh!
St. Luke's has actually two delivery departments which seem to be unrelated to each other. First I inquired at the concierge (again, luxury hotel comes to mind) about my wish to tour the departments. They were not surprised at all since they regularly seem to get such inquiries.
First they asked me to go to the 8th floor where the birthing suites are located. A birthing suite is what would be a delivery room in Germany: it is one big room where you labor, deliver and recover. The cheapest and smallest room is what I would expect a standard size German delivery room to be (but since I have never given birth in Germany, I don't actually know). It is equipped with a kitchenette and a complete bathroom with shower, a sofa and La-Z Boy for the accompanying partner.
The next is similar to the first room but bigger.
The last is called the "deluxe suite". It is huge (bigger than most condo units in Manila), has a separate living room area and has a big birthing tub for water births. The prize of the room per night is equivalent to our monthly rent for our apartment.
Then I proceeded to the second delivery area which is located on the third floor. A very nice, bubbly nurse guided me through the area and the "birthing process". When you come to the hospital in labor, you are first admitted to the admission area. There you are examined, the baby's heart rate is checked and it is decided if you are admitted, or sent home again.
If you are admitted, you enter the labor room. St. Luke's has 9 private labor rooms (more like cubicles but they offer full privacy), 3 of which with a bathroom (I forgot to ask if they also have a shower). The other 6 use a common bathroom. The rooms are a lot smaller than the birthing suites but still have a huge flat screen TV and a La-Z Boy for the accompanying person. (They also have a labor ward for those who can't or do not want to afford the private labor rooms. The beds in the ward are separated by a curtain and the partner has no access to the ward.)
When it is time to give birth, you are wheeled into the actual delivery room. Once the baby is out, you are wheeled into the recovery area, where you recover for 2-3 hours until you proceed to your regular hospital room for your recovery stay (I was told on average 2-3 days for normal delivery and around 5 days for cesarian). Of which they also have various options, from a 4-bed ward, 2-bed semi-private, to regular private rooms of various sizes and luxury suites of various sizes (I did not take a look at them but the most expensive is the presidential suite that costs nearly Php60,000 per day).
Both maternity areas promote the comfort of the laboring woman which includes encouraging the partner to stay with the woman for support and comfort (except in the labor ward). Both areas implement pain management with various options such as using hot and cold pads, walking around, taking a hot shower (of bath if you are in the birthing suite with the tub), or bouncing on the birthing ball (of course they also have pain medications and epidurals available). In both departments the partner can be with the laboring and delivering woman at all times.
Both areas have no restrictive policies regarding eating or drinking, labor, pain management and birthing positions. They leave this to the decision of the attending doctor and the woman. In fact, in both departments they seemed to find my questions about those restrictions odd (but I thought I'd ask twice after my experiences in Cebu).
Both departments did not seem to be busy, so it was very calm and quiet everywhere. All three birthing suites were empty (and hosted extra beds, so it seemed they do not get used that often). Of the labor rooms on the third floor only 2 were in use, and the labor dorm was empty. I don't know, if this was coincidence or if it is always like this.
Between all my asking of questions and remembering the answers, I forgot to take pictures but
this mom-to-be last year did take pictures and it still looks pretty much the same.
St. Lukes is a "mother-child-friendly" hospital so they don't have a newborn ward but all babies are roomed in. (Except for those who need special medical attention and are admitted to the newborn intensive care unit). The hospital also promotes exclusive breastfeeding and they have a lactation unit where the new mommy can get advice and help on breastfeeding (for free I believe). They also have a breast milk bank.
All in all, a very positive experience and I can well imagine giving birth there (and I most probably will).
