So they say every pregnancy is different… so true y’all. I had an easier pregnancy while expecting Mister I with minimal morning sickness and less body aches. I only started to experience body ache 2 days before his arrival. With the current pregnancy, morning sickness lasted longer (about 16 weeks), in fact it felt like all day sickness. My sleeping pattern also changed. I find myself wide awake till 12am and waking up at 3 or 4am for no apparent reason. Apart from the pregnancy symptoms, we also did many things differently for this baby. One of them which I feel is probably the most important part of my pregnancy journey, is picking the right gynaecologist for us.
What are the factors you consider when selecting your gynaecologist? For me, the following points were put into consideration before actually meeting the gynae :
- How much information I can obtain regarding the gynae on the Internet or via word of mouth
- Gender of the gynae (since I wanted a female this time)
- Proximity of the clinic from home
- Which hospital the gynae delivers at
- Cost
Only after getting the information on the points above, I have somewhat shortlisted my preferred gynae. Then comes the following :
- experience with the gynae during consultation – this is critical as my husband did not really like the attitude of our previous gynae
- Waiting time at the clinic
- experience with the clinic assistants
After much consideration and experience during my first appointment with my preferred gynae, I was certain I had found the right one for us – Dr Claudine Tan from Thomson Women’s Clinic.
Here is my experience thus far.
Getting more information about her services and charges was the easiest compared to the other 2 gynaes I had shortlisted. I had read a good number of reviews about her before calling up to enquire about her charges. The clinic assistant who picked up my call was very friendly and informative. She shared the consultation charges, package price after 20 weeks and delivery charges very openly over the phone. Although she had provided me with the charges, it was made known to me that the charges may vary each visit depending if there were other tests involved that day or if we purchased any supplements.
Experience at Thomson Women’s Clinic (Serangoon)
Our first appointment was scheduled on a weekday as her weekends are reserved for mamas who are closer to their due dates. I did a pregnancy test, took my weight and pressure before seeing her. In fact, now that I’m already in the third trimester of pregnancy, the longest time (out of all the visits) I spent waiting to see Dr Claudine was only 15 mins at most. This beats my previous experience hands down. Back then, the waiting time at my previous gynae’s clinic was at least 1 to 1.5 hours even though we were given an appointment time.
We had a pleasant first meeting as well as subsequent visits with Dr Claudine. Her chirpy and approachable persona made it easy for us to share past experiences as well as ask any questions we had in mind. She does not hard sell any services, for instance the Oscar test or Whooping cough immunisation (which we decided not to do in the end). What she did was tell us the availability of relevant services and we can go back to consider before giving her our decision during the next appointment.
We were initially set on delivering our baby at Mount Alvernia where we delivered our first boy because of the inconvenience of parking at Thomson Medical. After speaking with Dr Claudine, we agreed to deliver in Thomson Medical as she assured us that we only need to go to the hospital once, which is on the day of delivery. It is after all the hospital she is most familiar delivering in. To save us from the hassle of going down to the hospital to book the type of room we would like after delivery, she asked for our preferred room type during my last trimester to reserve a room for us. She even prepared the admission letter for us in the event that the baby decides to arrive earlier than expected. It really set our minds at ease knowing she has gotten the nitty gritty details covered for us prior to the day of delivery.
Charges for Visits
The part which many people are most interested in… I would say the average bill size for us per visit is approximately $200 depending if we purchase supplements or if any additional test was conducted. I do have the detailed charges but it would be a long list for me to share them here.
Overall Thoughts
Without a doubt, we are very happy with our experience with Dr Claudine Tan and her team and will definitely recommend her to those looking for a professional gynaecologist!
