Saturday, May 2, 2015

My Pregnancy Diary 3 - Review: Maternity Tour @ Mount Alvernia Hospital

Hi all,

I'm currently in my 26th week! I have been really busy for the past weekends checking my new house defects, preparing for renovation, baby stuff and visiting maternity tours.

I am trying to decide on the place for my delivery and have so far visited 2 maternity tours at Mount Alvernia and Thomson Medical Centre.


Today, I’ll like to share with you my maternity tour experience at Mount Alvernia Hospital.


At the start of the tour, each couple was given a goodie bag with information booklet, brochures and some free samples.


The tour guide went through the admission procedures and things to note before she brought us to see the delivery suite, maternity rooms and baby rooms.


Things to note:



  • Mount Alvernia has a range of room types – suite, super deluxe, single delux, single, 2-bed, 4-bed.
  • Only one companion is allowed to to stay over and only in single room. A companion fee of $80.25 (including GST) is chargeable (meal inclusive).
  • Maternity Package only commence from the day of surgery/delivery which means if mother is admitted into hospital at night and delivered after 12am, additional charge of S$442 will be billed for the use of delivery facilities and room
  • Maternity packages include the following:
a. Lodging, inclusive of meals (normal delivery – 3 days, 2 night, Caesarean section – 4 days, 3 nights)
b. Labour ward charges (up to 12 hrs) or operating theatre charges (depending on type of delivery)
c. Daily treatment fee for nursing services 
d. Baby’s immunisations (BCG, 1st doze of Hep B and Vitamin E).
e. Baby's blood tests for G6PD, TSH, Blood type
f. 1 complimentary group parent craft session – mon (10am to 11am), wed & fri (2pm to 3pm)
g. Maternity loop pad (1 packet)
h. Baby wipes (1 packet)
i. Baby’s bathtubj. Maternity discharge bagk. Basic toiletries (comb, shampoo, shower gel, shower cap, toothbrush, toothpaste, face towel, pen)
j. One time complimentary lactation consultation

Items not included in the package price: 

histology, X-Rays, blood cultures, haemoglucotest, blood transfusion, OT assistant fee, surcharges, baby hearing test,
metabolic test, abdominal binder, CTG monitoring and use of labour ward facility before emergency caesarean, use of peasant for induction of labour, antibiotics, blood test and phototherapy for babies with Jaundice, and drugs that are not commonly used are not included in the package price.


  •  Maternity Package prices do not include doctors’ fees
  • The hospital discharge time is anytime before 12 noon. For discharge between12 noon to 6pm, a half day room charge will be levied. For discharge after 6pm, a full-day room charge will apply.
  • For Medisave paying patients, a deposit equivalent to the full package price of the selected maternity package will be collected at point of admission (payment via cash, NETS or credit card). For non Medidave-paying patients, the full package price plus $800 is payable as deposit upon admission.
  • We are allowed to claim additional $450 for antenatal care upon submission of original receipts to admission staff
  • Maternity packages for different wards are as followed:



After all the informative talk, the guide directed us to the admission counter and showed us the path to their labour wards. At this point, you may want
 to note down the direction to labour wards as you definitely will not want to be panickingly searching for the admission counter and labour ward during the big day. 

A photo of their labour ward.

On the day of our visit, all the single bed rooms were occupied so she showed us the 2-bed and 4-bed rooms instead.


After which, we were directed to
 the baby nursery. 

The guide also showed us their parenting craft room and we were glad to hear that there’s one complimentary parenting craft lesson where mommy and daddy can attend during their stay.


Mount Alvernia promotes breast feeding so they provide Medela breast pump for renting. We were advised not to bring our own breast pump as they do not provide cleaning service for personal breast pump.


At the end of the tour, we were each given a drink coupon to redeem free drink at their café.


Click Here (https://www.mtalvernia-hospital.org/maternity-packages/) to book your maternity tour now and to read more about their maternity packages. 

My Verdict:


I was initially very keen to deliver at Mount Alvernia as it’s walking distance from my place. Moreover, I have received many positive feedback from friends for their services and food.

I have also heard from people that Mount Alvernia has experienced and motherly nurses who know how to handle various delivery situations. They are also known to be good at providing breastfeeding tips.

However, after the maternity tour, I feel that their facilities and wards are quite old and used. The most discouraging news - they have very limited single room (12 single rooms only). We were told they do not allow reservation of room type and the room is subjected to availability on the day of admission. So there's no guarantee of single room. Mother will be placed in a 2-bedded room if single room is fully 
occupied. If 2-bedded rooms are also fully occupied, then mother will be transferred to 4-bedded room.

The uncertainty of single room availability is one thing which I am not comfortable with.


Being a first time mother, it will be good if my hubby can stay through the night with me after delivery. 


Update: In July 15, I have checked with Mount Alvernia and understand that there will be 8 new single rooms available from August 2015 onwards. Hurray!!


Can read more about other maternity review here:
Mount Elizabeth Novena
Thomson Medical Centre

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I have recently went to the SuperMom Carnival :) There were many goodies and they provided free photo-taking session on the day.
So happy with the photos taken on the day. 




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With Love,
TwentySixOctober

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