CONGRATULATIONS, IT'S A BOY!!!

Congratulations to Zubeida and Nazeem (my "sister" and "brother") on the birth of their new bundle of joy, little Issa. Both mother and baby are doing just fine and Issa's two elder brothers, Nabeel and Muhammed are quite excited to have a new addition to the family. Zubeida gave birth at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre as her husband works at the institute. Zubeida use to work for the hospital as well but put her career on hold to be a full time mom to her kids. She received excellent care in the maternity ward.As I mentioned in my previous article, all patients in a Saudi hospital are privileged to be given their own private room. Zubeida mentioned to me that she was given excellent care during her entire delivery process. When I visited her room, her wall was decorated with pictures and paintings that her other two sons drew and head nurse Irene, affectionately known as grand ma made sure that she was comfortable throughout her stay in hospital. Zubeida was fortunate to deliver her baby at this state of the art hospital as this privilege is only afforded to staff members who are grade 9 and above. Of course, in Saudi Arabia there are many sophisticated private hospitals where you can have your baby delivered but it does come at a price of course.Dr. Sulaiman habib hospital is quite a well recognized hospital here in the Kingdom and whilst browsing through their website I was quite amazed at the various maternity packages that they offer to their patients. The patient has a choice of being admitted to a private en-suite delivery room. Semi royal and royal bedrooms are also available.Take a look at the room pictures by visiting their website(http://www.drsulaimanalhabib.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=124&Itemid=242).
The rooms are all elegantly and opulently furnished resembling a hotel room rather than a hospital room.In addition to taking care of the pregnant woman and the child, the hospital also offers prenatal and postnatal dermatology packages.Prenatal treatments include skin care sessions, body moisturizing sessions,monthly skin assessment to maintain skin freshness, body sessions to flatten the stomach with safe natural materials and hair treatment sessions.Postnatal treatments include, laser hair removal sessions for the body,mesotherapy sessions to improve hair nutrition, body lifting for the abdomen,thighs and buttocks as well as breast firming sessions. Somehow I get the impression that Saudi women are expected to look like beauty queens after giving birth. Most women would even opt for a vaginoplasty procedure directly after giving birth so that their husbands do not take on another wife due to a lack of sexual satisfaction. Breast feeding is also not very much encouraged amongst Saudi women as it can cause weight gain due to the hormone prolactin which stimulates appetite as well as prompts milk production. Quite frankly, I find this discouragement to be ironical as there are numerous sayings of the Prophet Muhammed (saw) as well as verses in the Quraan that explains the significance of a mother breastfeeding her child.In terms of nutrition, there are numerous benefits that breastfeeding has on the new born baby. God Almighty also rewards the mother and showers His mercy upon her. There is also a strong bond created between mother and child.Whilst there are many people out there who can not afford a basic hospital facility to deliver their babies or are unable to gain access to a primary health care facility, there are infants in this part of the world who are treated like vip's at birth. On that note, I would like to take the opportunity in wishing Zubeida and her little one all the best and I hope and pray that he will always be the coolness to her eyes. Ameen.

Further Reading:
http://suckledsunnah.wordpress.com/category/quran-hadith/