Pregnancy in Dubai, UAE

Thursday 23 May 2013 (UAE)

Pregnant, Pregnancy, Childbirth and Giving Birth in Dubai and UAE

How to get pregnant in Dubai

The usual methods work equally as well in Dubai as in any other countries. Once you are pregnant, whether or not you are married makes a big difference in terms of treatment by the authorities.
Rock Bottom and Jimmy Dix are two night spots in Dubai where you may find an eager selection of sperm donors but this method is not highly recommended.

Maternity Care, Pre-Natal, Post-Natal, Ante-Natal Care, Delivery

Update 23 December 2010 (Khaleej Times): Delivery fees at UAE government hospitals will increase in January 2011 to AED 5,000 for natural births, and AED 8,000 for ceasarean section (previously AED 2,500 for natural birth and AED 5,000 for c-section). Or double that to AED 10,000 and AED 16,000 for those not holding a UAE health card. The same report said private hospital fees ranged from AED 6,000 to AED 25,000.

You can visit a Government Hospital with a health card to pay low fees for care and delivery. There will be extra charges if there are complications and/or you choose to have a private room (usually a few hundred dhs per day). Al Wasl Hospital near the Wafi Center seems to be the preferred choice of many opting for delivery in a Government Hospital but other options include Al Maktoum and Rashid Hospitals. See further below for contact details and individual hospital comments.

You'll need a government health card, marriage certificate, passport copies for you and your husband, and possibly some evidence of where you live (rent contract, phone bill, DEWA bill). Phone the hospital of your choice to find out when to go and register.

If you have private medical insurance (which includes pregnancy) or lots of money, then you can try one of the private hospitals like American hospital, Welcare hospital, or start with one of the private gynaecological clinics in Dubai. Delivery fees at Welcare and American hospital are about 10,000 - 20,000 dhs depending on whether or not you have a ceasarean section. Al Zahra Hospital in Sharjah (they have a medical clinic in Dubai on Sheikh Zayed Road for check-ups and tests but deliveries are performed at the hospital in Sharjah) may be a bit cheaper.

Some hospitals offer ante-natal packages for example about 4,000 dhs at American Hospital for visits and tests (not including delivery though).

Dubai Healthcare City (behond the Wafi Center) is currently under development and is expected to have a variety of clinics catering to all medical needs.

Married and pregnant

If you are married, your main concern will be where to have your baby. Phone the hospitals listed to get an idea of cost and waiting times for appointments.

Unmarried and pregnant in Dubai

If you're not married and get pregnant in Dubai, you'll be in a bit of trouble. A girlfriend/boyfriend defacto relationship in Dubai is illegal. There are many cases of unmarried mothers in Dubai ending up in jail (with their baby) after delivery, followed by deportation on completion of their sentence, because giving birth out of wedlock is a crime in the UAE. Rather than end up in that situation, you can either leave the country and go to your home country, or get a wedding organised in a hurry. Bear in mind that there are flying restrictions depending on how close to delivery you are so if you are unlikely to get married before giving birth, get your exit from the UAE organised as soon as possible.

Government hospitals in Dubai will probably give you a hard time if you go for maternity care without a marriage certificate and possibly notify the police. You'll definitely have a problem if you try and give birth while still unmarried.
The American hospital and Welcare hospital will be more helpful during ante-natal care but you'll still be in trouble if you end up giving birth there as a single mother.
Your religion and nationality may make a difference here. Unmarried mothers reported in the press as ending up in jail usually seem to be from Asian countries like India and Sri Lanka.
An unmarried Muslim mother is likely to find themselves in a lot more bother than an unmarried Christian mother, even before giving birth.

Procedure and paperwork for giving birth in Dubai

Once you've chosen a hospital to give birth at, phone them a few weeks before delivery to register and pre-arrange some of the paperwork.
When the child is born, the hospital should give you a Notification of Birth document, in Arabic. Use this to get a birth certificate.
All, or most, government and related departments are open about 0800-1300 Sun to Thu, some may be open until 1400 or from 0700.
If the Date of Birth is much less than 9 months after your marriage date, you may find it difficult to get the birth certificate. Eventually it'll get done though - a bigger time difference will usually mean less hassle hence the importance of getting married as soon as possible after discovering you are pregnant.

Nationality and Passports of Children Born in Dubai

Babies born in the UAE will not have UAE nationality (unless the father is Emirati), they will receive the same nationality as the father.

As soon as the child is born, you should start getting a passport organised. It is not advisable to include children on your own passport, get them separate passports. You have up to 4 months from the date of birth to get passports organised. After that, babies get fined 100 dhs per day. This procedure can be tedious but you'll get there in the end. Allow a few days or a couple of weeks for all the paperwork to be completed.

Take the baby's birth certificate along with parent's birth certificates, marriage certificate, passports and copies to your embassy or consulate and fill in a birth registration form and passport application form. After the passport is issued, apply for a residence visa for the wee tyke. Minimum working age in the UAE is 18 (or 15 for some jobs) so you have some time before needing to get a work permit organised.

Contact details and Hospital Comments

In general terms, the major noticeable difference between private hospitals and government hospitals (apart from cost) is that there is a significant lack of 'customer care' in government hospitals. Medically, there's probably not that much difference but you'll definitely feel a lot more comfortable about it all in a good private hospital. This applies to Dubai and probably Abu Dhabi. In the smaller emirates, many expats would advise you to go to one of the better hospitals in Dubai or maybe Sharjah for important medical procedures like childbirth. You should certainly try and visit the hospitals on your short list for giving birth, to form an opinion.

For some difficult/unusual situations, private hospitals will send patients to government hospitals anyway (eg premature babies needing an ICU unit).

Al Maktoom Hospital
Al Wasl Hospital, near Wafi Center, Dubai - Tel +971-4-3241111. Popular for giving birth but a bit of a lottery in terms of how comfortable you will feel. You'll probably be in a ward with other mothers rather than a private room (husband can't be with you), doctors and nurses should speak some English but maybe not. Any requests you have in terms of medical procedures will likely be ignored. Medically, probably just as sound as American Hospital or Welcare. Sometimes written as Al Wasel, Alwasl, or Alwasel Hospital.
Al Zahra Private Hospital, Sharjah - Tel +971-4-5624382. Has a reasonably good reputation. Popular with people coming from Sharjah and the Northern Emirates rather than Dubai.
Al Zahra Private Medical Center, Sheikh Zayed Rd, Dubai - Tel +971-4-3315000
American Hospital, Lamcy Plaza area, Dubai - Tel +971-4-3367777, Fax +971-4-3365176. Has quite a good reputation, doctors and nurses all speak good English and try to make you feel comfortable. Food and accommodation good.
Corniche Hospital, Abu Dhabi - popular, was cheap (1500 dhs for delivery) but prices raised to 10,000 dhs for normal birth and 14,000 dhs for caesarian in April 2009.
DOHMS - Department of Health and Medical Services - Tel 8004991 (?)
General Medical Center - Tel +971-4-3495959, Fax +971-4-3495634
International Modern Hospital - tel +971-4-3988888, fax +971-4-3988444, PO Box 914, Dubai, email info@imh.ae, web www.imh.ae. New (2006) so unknown but appears to be a good private hospital.
NMC Hospitals - Dubai tel +971 4-2689800, in Deira on Salahuddin Rd next to Sana, and conveniently close to The Baby Shop. Maternity packages from 2,500-12,000 dhs. Hospitals and clinics in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Mussafah (baby delivery may not be available in all locations). No opinion on quality of medical care.
Rashid Hospital - Tel +971-4-3374000.
Welcare Hospital, Garhood, Dubai, Tel +971-4-2827788, Fax +971-4-2828226 (Gynaecology and Obstetrics Tel +971-4-2137252. Has a good enough reputation. Comparable to the American Hospital with some saying it's better and some saying it's worse. Doctors and nurses speak good English and will make you feel comfortable.

Last update Tuesday 18-Jan-2011

Dubai Health Authority (DHA)
Getting married in Dubai - information on procedures, documents needed, church and embassy contact details
Hospitals in Dubai (forum topic) - list of hospitals in the UAE, contact details, comments
Kissing in the UAE - step one of getting pregnant
Unmarried and living together in Dubai
Unmarried couples in the UAE - living together in the UAE forum topic

Related websites (new window)

www.abudhabimums.ae - Abu Dhabi Mums, a social group for mothers of children aged < 0 to 6 years.
www.alzahra.com - Al Zahra Medical Center and Hospital website
www.ahdubai.com - American Hospital Dubai, website has details of maternity packages, and information about getting pregnant
www.dohms.gov.ae - DOHMS - Department of Health and Medical Services (Al Wasl Hospital and Rashid Hospital)
www.dhcc.ae - Dubai Healthcare City web site
www.dubaibabies.com - online shopping in the UAE for babies, tel +971-50-4579698 (7am-10pm), Dubai Babies have a shop in Mercato Mall Jumeirah also.
www.fertilityfriends.co.uk/forum/index.php?board=366.0 - Fertility Friends UK Dubai forum for IVF, infertility, fertility, miscarriage, ICSI, IUI, and other pregnancy related discussion.
www.kid-eternity.com - Kid Eternity online shopping in the UAE for babies, tel +971-50-1513825 (10am-4pm Sun-Thu)
www.mirdiffmums.com - Mirdiff Mums, a social group for mothers living in Mirdif in Dubai
www.nmcgroup.net - NMC hospitals, website has details of maternity packages.
www.welcarehospital.com - Welcare Hospital website
Dubai directory - add your link free

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Abu Dhabi AUH ABD ADB, Ajman AJM, Al Ain AAN, Dubai DXB, Fujairah FUJ, Ras Al Khaimah RAK, Sharjah SHJ, Umm Al Quwain UAQ information guide

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