Korean Job Discussion Forums

[koreahospital]

Anyone knows any womens clinic near yongin or gwangju? the doctors should be able to speak english. How these women clinic really work? I mean Do they do delivery processs too or they send women to hospital later in 8 or 9 month?How much is the cost of delivery in these hospital? If anyone know any general hospital where there is an englis speaking gynaecologist, it will be a great help. share ur experiences too regarding delivery and pregnancy in south korea??? Thanks

[ttompatz]

[smurfetta]

I can't help you with locating a hospital in Yongin or Gwangju but I can tell you what I know as a pregnant foreigner living in Korea.

In a lot of cities there is usually a women's hospital that deals with everything from pre-natal care to the delivery.

Also, the big general hospitals should have a maternity ward.

As for English speaking service, I've found that outside of Seoul, usually only the doctor and the radiologist can speak some English. Now, I am only speaking of my experience in the Cheonan, Chungnam area.


Here is a link to a forum for pregnancy and beyond that may help you:

http://www.eslcafe.com/bbs/forumdisplay.php?f=52

[kimbabworld]

I went to a women's clinic (Dr. Sung's Clinic in Youngsan) and left during my 7th month and found a hospital. But I could have gone to the hospital doctor (Seoul National University Hospital in Hyewha) the whole time. However, the hospital was always very busy, so I felt I got more personal attention at the women's clinic doctor. I really liked both the women's clinic doctor and hospital doctor very much. They both spoke English very well. No problems. But I did have pregnancy complications and had to stay on bed rest in the hospital, had a C-section and my baby had to stay in NICU for two weeks, so it was expensive for us.

[redeye]

There's a really great foreigner's clinic at Ajou University hospital in Suwon--not too far from Yongin I think. Their site: http://www.ajou.ac.kr/english/right/hospital04.jsp
They were super helpful when I had to take my baby in for an illness. They have translators on staff--one even gave me her cell phone number to contact if I needed further help after hours.

Also, as ttompatz said, there's Samsung women's hosptial in Youngtong, which is pretty nice. And, most doctors speak enough English to make you comfortable.

[smurfetta]

Here are some old posts on pregnancy in Korea for you to check out just in case you haven't seen them before.


http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=100608&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0



http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=106782&highlight=


http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=24041

[Original]

There is a clinic in southern Seongnam which is basically right on the northern edge of Bundang towards Gwangju. The drive would be 10 minutes with no traffic from Gwangju (I know no traffic in Korea is an oxymoron) and about 5 minutes from Moran station in Bundang, it is not far from DanDaeogeori station on the pink line. The lady who owns this clinic speaks good English and is wonderful. Her prices are very good as well.

If you want more information, send me a PM.

[goesslry]

so, my wife is pregnant, and we both want to be involved in the process. However, the doctors we have found so far do not really feel that the husband should be very involved (ie. going to appointments, asking questions, etc), also, everything is explained in Korean (wife is Korean), and we would like it explained in both english and korean so we both know what is going on. We want to find someone that ideally is U.S. or western trained, so anyone with recommendations would be greatly appreciated. We live in Seoul, Haebangchon/Itaewon area.

[kimbabworld]

goesslry,

I sent you a Private Message. Check your inbox.

And here is their website:

http://www.snuh.org/english/

[kimbabworld]

Doctor Sung will be the best for this. My husband came to appointments with me and asked her 1000 questions. She speaks both English and Korean. She's totatlly fluent in English (even has a British accent). When I had to go into the hospital for complications, I felt the hospital wasn't providing me with enough details, so she would call them everyday get my status and call me and explain everything. She's in Hannam-dong.

I advice you not to go to Soon-Chung-Yang Hospital in Hannam, I had a horrible experience. Their facilities are old and even though some doctors speak English, they provide little information. I transfered to Seoul National University hospital (Hyewha dong) and got Dr. Park (he worked at a Boston hospital for 2 years). He was amazing, as were the hospital facilities and the international nurses. Dr. Park provided information before I even had a chance to ask questions. I was also amazed with the NICU. My baby was born 7 weeks early and had to stay in, the facilitlies were so advanced. Also, Seoul National University has a lot of information on breast feeding. They coach the mothers, it was great.

I went to Dr. Sung for 7 months for my prenatal care and then to Dr. Park at Seoul National University for the rest of the time. They were both fluent in both languages.

If you want more info PM me or Polonius.

[sistersarah]

[sistersarah]

[kimbabworld]

Soonchunghyang was awful....

The senior doctor there had no bedside manner and provided no detailed information.

The ward does not have any no lights out rules. There were ajummas (mothers) of the pregnant women there watching the communal TV until 12 am and they blared it as loudly as they wanted.

They didn't turn off the overheard flourecent lights in the ward until after midnight.

The Western meals were 15,000 won each and were the worst quality food you can get.

A few nights they left the doors open to the delivery room and all night you could hear people giving birth.

The ward became over crowded and they asked to put some of us in the gynocology ward. They lied to me and said it would be quieter there. There were 6 beds plus family cots in this tiny room, no air conditioning in the middle of July AND there were two men patients in this ward (the GYNOCOLOGY ward!)

It wasn't so bad when I had a private room. There were no double rooms available at the time. But I had to switch over to the ward because I was supposed to be there for a month. The single room was over 200,000 won a day!

After seeing what poor quality the facilties were while I was there for 2 weeks I'm so happy my baby had the modern facilties of the NICU at SNUH. There is no comparison, SNUH was excellent!

I don't think Dr. Sung is cold. She's just to the point. She is really popular with foreigners, her office on a Saturday afternoon is packed. I visited her on the week day mornings when I knew she wasn't swamped. I felt like a sheep when I switched over to Soonchunghyang Hospital. I went to Dr. Sung for the first 7 months because I wanted more personalized treatment compared to a hospital and that's what I got. Now, however I think I would have got the same treatment from Dr. Park (OBGYN) at Seoul National University Hospital. I can't say more than enough great things about him too.

[sistersarah]

[KumaraKitty]

We had our care and delivery at Samsung Mirae here in Bucheon. We really had a great experience and our doctor spoke excellent English. I ended up having a C-Section and had a 5 day stay in hospital. They made me very comfortable and the lactation consultant was wonderful! I'm not sure if they have other locations or not.
The SCH hospital here in Bucheon is HORRIBLE, but I do know several women who have positive stories about the SCH in Hannam so check around.
I had a bad experience with Dr. Sung regarding some unnecessary procedures and a mistake during an examination that caused me a great deal of discomfort. I dislike her bedside manner and her tendency to push things on patients.
But again, each person has their own experiences and preference. Shop around for a doctor until you find one you like who will give you the birth experience you want! Good luck!