Manipal Hospitals

From the first visit itself, Dr. Sneha had made my husband and me so comfortable and reassured that we were certain of being in the right hands. We were so pleasantly amazed at her immense patience for answering the long list of questions and doubts that we had. In each and every visit, she made sure of prodding us to ask all our doubts and share all our concerns. She repeatedly asked "what else" to ensure that we left her cabin only after asking evey single thing that might have been bothering us. She is so approachable that we never hesitated from asking even the silliest of questions. She also shared her email ID and her number towards the end to ensure that we can reach out in case of anything urgent or just to clarify any doubts or seek reassurance. She was always so prompt in responding to our queries that it further helped reduce our anxiety, knowing that help is just a text away.

During pregnancy, when things seem so uncertain and confusing, having someone to provide reassurance, explain things and lend a sympathetic ear is something for which we can't be grateful enough.

From the first day, Dr. Sneha made sure that my husband was treated as an equal partner in this journey, and was not made to feel excluded at all. This is something that is still not a norm sadly. We were really relieved at her approach as it was really important for us to share the experience and be there for each other every step of the way.

Dr. Sneha never made us feel like we were just another patient, she would always remember our names and would greet us like a friend.

My pregnancy was a high risk case and there were a lot of complications. Dr. Sneha deftly handled all the issues and was really quick in identifying and addressing the concerns. Because of her quick decision making we were able to avoid adverse effects of a complication that I developed in the 37th week.

She also tried her best to ensure that we could go for a vaginal delivery, only when it was no longer feasible because of the complications, she counselled us to consider a planned c-section.

The actual day of the delivery, the experience was beyond anything I could have imagined. Dr. Sneha allowed my husband to be there in the OT during the c-section, holding my hands as we welcomed our baby in this world. I can't express in words how much that helped soothe my nerves and helped me overcome all the fear and anxiety that I had before the surgery. The experience was further enhanced as our baby was brought into the world to the tunes of soulful songs that ma'am was playing during the operation. I can't believe that even I was singing along during the operation, ma'am was so happy when she noticed me singing! I still get amazed that I was having a discussion with her regarding the movie that a particular song belonged to during my c-section!

Post the procedure as well, ma'am took a lot of care to ensure that I was completely recovered and there wasn't any discomfort or potential issue remaining unidentified and unaddressed. She was also there during the discharge to participate in the cake cutting ceremony. She truly helped us feel cared for and this didn't feel like just a professional relationship but a cherished relationship built on care, trust and respect. Thanks a lot ma'am for making our journey so beautiful despite the multiple bumps that we encountered on the way.

Dr. Shafalika SB is one of the kindest and most empathetic doctors I have ever come across (and coming from a family of doctors, that says a lot!). She is an expert in laparoscopic gynaecological surgeries and her skill and competence ensures successful minimally invasive surgery resulting in greatly reduced recovery timelines.

I first start consulting Dr Shafalika at Manipal (then Columbia Asia), Yeshwanthpur in 2019. I had heavy and painful periods + gastro problems triggered by periods. The scan confirmed the presence of multiple fibroids as well as adenomyosis (thick uterine lining).

Although Dr Shafalika is a surgeon, she will never advise surgery as the first course of treatment and only when absolutely necessary. Dr. told me I will eventually have to be operated but did not want to operate then. She broke the news to me with extreme kindness and compassion and put me on oral medications to try and suppress symptoms. The oral meds worked for some time but after a few months, I started getting severe migraines. I had moved to the other end of Bangalore by then and did not meet the doctor for my follow up appointment which was due in Feb 2020 due to work related travel. After that, the pandemic started and my visit was delayed greatly (due to my over-indexation on Covid).

I went back to meet the doctor after getting severe period cramps and gastritis in Jan, 2022. Again, she answered all my queries with patience and grace and did not rush me towards surgery although we both knew that was inevitable. When I was mentally ready, I went back and got my surgery done by her in June 2022. She ensured I was comfortable and as I didn’t have insurance, she did her best to reduce the cost of the procedure. It was a complex surgery but Dr. Shafalika was very confident that she would be able to handle it laparoscopically (and she did)!

On the day of the procedure, she arrived early and held my hand throughout the administration of general anaesthesia. She also reassured me wrt to the queries and concerns I had. During surgery, it was determined that I also had a bad case of endometriosis. At the hands of a lesser skilled surgeon, there was every possibility that my surgery would shift to an “open” one. But Dr. Shafalika managed to conduct the same laparoscopically.

While at the hospital, I saw how well respected she was among her colleagues at Manipal (and deservedly so). She even came to meet me on a Sunday, the day after my operation!

My post-surgical follow up with the doctor has been equally pleasant and efficient. In the follow up meeting, she again spent a fair amount of time with me and addressed all my queries. There is always a long queue of patients outside her office (some from out of town), but she never rushes you. It is easy for a doctor to become clinical as this is routine work for them, but Dr. Shafalika knows that while she has many patients; for the patient, she is the only doctor! 

I developed a UTI infection post surgery and the doctor has been helping me address that very efficiently through telephonic consultation via her assistant, Nimisha. Nimisha is also a very kind and helpful person and enables access to Dr. Shafalika as needed. This is super helpful as I live 2.5 hours away.

I have been so impressed with Dr. Shafalika’s work ethic as well as care and concern for her patients, that I have recommended her to my neighbour who is evaluating similar surgery.

I no longer have to plan my life around my menstrual cycle. And am so glad I met Dr. Shafalika and got the procedure done in her able hands and care. Thank you doctor! You are a beacon of compassion and competence – a very rare combination indeed.

It's true that God cannot be everywhere, so he has sent his Angels as DOCTORS with Excellence and Selflessness to us.

I found this entirely true with Dr. Sai Prasad who had been our best hope in those toughest of times.

In Oct 2022 My 6-year-old daughter was detected with a Choledochal cyst and had been having unbearable pains in her abdominal area. The standard solution was Surgery however being such a small child we wanted to avoid this and visited almost all major hospitals in Bangalore, but in all prescriptions & views, we got a similar answer that it can only be cured through a surgical procedure. Finally, when the pain didn't end we tried to search for the best doctor a pediatric surgeon having experience in choledochal cyst type procedures, post many Google searches my wife suggested meeting Dr. Sai Prasad based on the positive reviews on various websites.

The Doctor is a totally down-to-earth personality whose primary purpose is to cure the disease and not to trouble the patient/family with unnecessary tests and procedures. He informed us in great detail the problem and the various kind of Surgical options available with pros & cons of each. This really helped us in understanding the procedure and also the risks involved. He also informed us of the Team which would be involved in the Surgery including Dr. Rajeev Lochan (who is the main Surgeon in the procedure) having a lot of experience in Gastro-Surgery.

However, as a pediatric Surgeon and during & post Surgery care Dr. Sai Prasad's role was most critical.

His confidence in seeing the vision of the child post surgery journey was so clear that it gave us confidence. Since over the last 2 months, we had already got the MRCP done from another Hospital he never once asked to get the tests done again through his own hospital and even suggested some blood tests pre-surgery can be done through any NABL-approved Laboratory near to your place at our convenience. Finally, we decided to get the surgery done through him from Manipal Yashwanthpur Hospital on 12th May 23. The Procedure went on from morning 7 am to Afternoon 2 pm for almost 7 Hours.

Finally, once the surgery finished the Doctors called us & explained the whole procedure went as per plan and the surgery was successful. They informed the child was doing well and is not even on a ventilator as is generally the case, infact she is already awake and is coming out of Anaesthesia effects.

Finally, then my daughter came out of the OT on the Stretcher, to our great delight, she was already able to recognise me & my wife and even spoke to us and was a bit restless, but this was completely unbelievable. They took her to the ICU and said you can be with her. This was a major surgery, I thanked the Almighty and the Doctors for their great work spending almost 7~8 hours continuously in the OT without any breakfast or lunch. You may say it's their job, but I am not sure how many times we do that in our jobs.

The most elating experience was that during our 5-day stay post-surgery there was not a single day when Dr Sai Prasad did not visit even during a Sunday he was there on time. I have not seen may doctors having that level of dedication. Also during the surgery he connected a central line system through which they gave her all the drips & medicines in a painless way without pricking her even a single time for any fluid intake or drip intake that was amazing.

Finally we got discharged on the 5th day as planned and are currently on a path of recovery and am glad to say my Daughter started her school normally as planned from 5th June and is now slowly getting back to her normal self.

We thank God and Dr. Sai Prasad and Dr. Rajeev Lochan for their great support.

Sending my gratefulness to the **** doctors I’ve ever seen, may you be proud of the work you do, the person you are, and the difference you make.

Please get in touch with me if you need any further feedback ** ** **** ************************* will be happy to speak with anyone if I can be of any help.

Thanks & Regards

Ankit Saxena

We flew in from the UK to give birth to our child in India at week 32 of our pregnancy. Before we came to Bengaluru, we did a few checks on doctors and decided that we were to meet her. We have to say that it was probably the best decision we have ever made to choose Dr. Sneha.

At our first appointment, she waited for us close to 20 minutes without any fuss as we were running late and within the first 15 minutes of talking to her we knew that she was going to be our doctor on our pregnancy journey hereafter. We did visit another doctor, who we absolutely did not like, after we spoke to Dr. Sneha but we very well knew who we were going for in our journey.

Dr. Sneha patiently listened to everything that we had to say for 45 minutes at our first appointment before talking about her perspective. That is very commendable.

On all our subsequent appointments, we spoke about the journey and everything else very casually, shared a bit of humour and fun to take the stress away of the impending birth for us. It was quite refreshing for both the doctor and for ourselves.

There was no unnecessary advice, pointless checks or tests and her dedication to do a normal delivery is something I have not heard about much in India. She recommended a handful of very useful things for us and explained clearly why she was doing so. We saw the results of that rather quickly.

Not only was she our doctor, she is also very dear to us because of her charisma, friendliness and impeccable character. She ensured that both of us were not stressed in any way throughout our checkups and also on the day of birth.

When my partner went into active labour suddenly, she was constantly reachable and ensured that everything proceeded on her instructions despite her not immediately being there.

To give a snippet of our day of labour, Dr. Sneha met with an accident while on the way to to the hospital to deal with us. Despite that, she got herself to the labour room with a properly bruised shin, limping because she wanted to somehow deliver our child. She continuously worked for 6 hours straight and did everything she could possibly do to give birth to our son vaginally.

She had already accepted our birth plan in a very reasonable manner and was very open about me being beside my partner during the birth. She was very clear, early on, on what was possible and what wasn't during the procedure.

No other doctor, I'm sure, would have done that because the baby had pooped quite a bit of meconium (Grade III) and it was meant to be a classic case of an emergency C section.

Dr. Sneha was very clear that as long as the fetal heart rate did not drop, she was going to do everything in her power to do a natural birth. There were various complications like the cord being wrapped around the baby's head and the baby being much bigger than expected.

Not only she took care of the birth so well but also my partner after strenuous labour. She checked on us frequently during our stay in the hospital and ensured that we felt comfortable and were clear on the recovery stages.

I cannot recommend her enough for any pregnancy or birth related consultations irrespective of where you are located in Bengaluru.

Thank you Dr. Sneha for helping us with the mental strength to get through what was a very tough birth for my partner.