Giving birth in Oman

In another one of my series, MM guide to Oman, here's the skinny on giving birth, as an expat, in Oman.

Basically there are, in Muscat, 5 Private hospitals (well, Badr has multiple branches) worth mentioning:

Muscat Private Hospital
Starcare Hospital
Badr Al Sama Hospital
Atlas Star Medical Centre
Apollo Medical Centre

There is also the Aster Al Raffah Hospital, but I attempted to call them 4 times across an entire day and they failed to even answer their phones - so I could not possibly even include them in the above list.

Starting from the top:

Muscat Private Hospital

MPH is the biggest private hospital in the country, and is also the most expensive hospital to have a C-Section birth in. They are located in Bowsher and their number is 2458 3600.

Traditional birth - RO 600
C-Section - RO 1450

9 months Ante-natal package with 12 consultations and 3 scans is RO 495

However, if you were to book and pay for in 1 hit the ante-natal package and a birth package, you'd get 15% off, bringing total cost of antenatal + birth to either RO 930.750 or RO 1653.250 depending on the method of delivery.

Starcare Hospital

Starcare Hospital is a relatively new private hospital and is situated on the same road as the Muscat City Center in Mawaleh. Their number is 2455 7200.

Traditional birth: RO 600
C-Section - RO 1200

9 months Ante-natal package with 12 consultations and 4 scans is RO 400

Bringing the total cost to RO 1000 or RO 1600.

Badr Al Samaa

This is a chain of hospitals, with branchs in Ruwi, Khuwair and Khoud. Their phone number for the Ruwi branch is 2479 9760.

Traditional birth: RO 250
C-Section: RO 450

There were no Ante-natal packages that I could find out about, but I did learn that an ultrasound scan is RO 8.

Atlas Star Medical Centre

This place is situated in Ghubra very close to Muscat Grand Mall. Their phone number is 2450 4000.

Traditional birth: starting at RO 135

Apollo Medical Centre

This place is in Hamriyah, their phone number is  2478 7766

Traditional birth: RO 175
C-Section: RO 450


Now, something that all of the above hospitals have in common is this: They are not setup to handle complications in child birth - should you have an emergency then you will be transferred to one of the Government hospitals in Muscat - SQU, Royal (Ghubra) or Khoula (Wattayah). The costs quoted above are basic guide costs. Should you need inducement, or something else, then they will attract additional costs too. An emergency trip to one of the Government hospitals (which are world-class in their services on offer - at all times of day and night) will run you around RO 100. I should also point out that should you go into labour outside of "office" hours, eg 2am - then your Doctor will most probably not even be there in the Private hospitals - you'll probably just have the mid-wife and that's it.

Once you have had your baby (or babies!) then there is still more to do. Every new mother in Oman gets a green maternity record card which is issued by the Ministry of Health. When you have given birth, you are issued with a letter from the hospital you are in to confirm the birth. You then need to take this to the government clinic in Darsayt, the same place where you go for the blood test for your employment visa.

They will produce a birth certificate which you then also need to have attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attestation office in Shatti Al-Qurum (because giving you a simple Birth Certificate would be too easy). Finally, you can then get that attested by the embassy/consulate of your home country which will also help you with the paper work for getting a passport for the baby. Your baby needs a visa to reside in Oman - I understand the grace period is 180 days to get a passport sorted out for your baby, and a new visa stamped into it.

Please feel free to add any relevant bits of information that I have probably missed!

le fin.