Surya Hospitals, Santacruz West

Extremely proactive, very strong commitment and sense of responsibility, deeply empathetic, near 24/7 availability for patient, always flexible to accommodate the patient’s needs, very professional yet so humane, permanently cheerful, humorous and warm.

These are how I would try to summarise Dr Poonam Nautiyal in a few key words.

My wife and I had an earlier unsuccessful pregnancy primarily due to the negligence and lack of responsibility of our previous obstetrician. The event was extremely traumatic for both of us. So the second time, we were quite concerned about getting a good obstetrician, especially who can manage the deep set fear and trauma of my wife, and help us conclude the pregnancy successfully.

We searched in Practo, and found Dr Poonam, amongst a few others. But we liked her profile since there were many good reviews about her.

It’s been about 9 months since we have been interacting with Dr Poonam. During the course of time, she managed to create an environment of safety and trust for my wife, through consultations to the extent that my wife got deeply attached to her emotionally. In this time interval of 9 months there have been times where Dr Poonam was unavailable for physical consultation for a couple of weeks. But she provided us with a backup doctor to handle any emergencies. Even while she was travelling, Dr Poonam was still always available for telephonic consultations. Hats off to her dedication. Her concern for my wife seemed similar to her own daughter.

We are now the happy parents of a newborn baby. The baby was born in Surya Hospitals via Cesarean (because of the previous mishap we didn’t want to take chances). Prior to the surgery, Dr Poonam had let us talk to one of her patients who had just delivered via Cesarean to check how easy or difficult it is to recover after a Cesarean, and associated first hand experiences.

Dr Poonam helped us with the hospitalisation. She also explained to us that we might need an attendant for the mother and baby post operation and gave us references for attendants. She was extremely supportive for all our requests. She got her own team to perform the operation. It was done at the exact time of our choice, the surgery went perfectly well. She even invited me to be there physically in the operating theatre so that I could provide emotional support to my wife during the surgery. I have found Dr Poonam extremely thoughtful and sensitive in these matters - she comprehends these innate needs of a to-be-parent couple so easily. Her emotional intelligence must be extremely high.

The operation has gone very well. My wife recovered extremely fast from the operation and was mobile within a couple of days (we thought it would be weeks).

In a world where there are so many reckless doctors (like the one we had the misfortune to consult for our first baby), it is doctors like Dr Poonam who bring back our faith for the medical profession.

I am humbly thankful, grateful, and fortunate, as a husband and a parent, to have been blessed with an angel like Dr Poonam.

For any expectant mother / father, I will highly recommend Dr Poonam - you will be in very safe hands, and I am talking from the perspective of a first hand wonderful experience.

With immense relief and joy I am writing about Dr. Aparna Hegde, Urogynaecologist par-excellence. I approached her with reference from my family Doctor for my Mother ( she is 90 ). My mother was having UTI regularly over several years, and was being treated with the required antibiotics almost every month. As time passed, these antibiotics in the form of tablets became less and less effective , and IV treatment had to be resorted to. Regular use of different Antibiotics was also spoiling my Mother’s gut.All this was very exhausting and tiring for my mother. When these repeated treatments were inconclusive and unhelpful , it became very worrisome. I am happy that my mother is now under Dr. Hegde’s expert care. Doctor diagnosed the underlying cause of the UTI’s as retention of urine due to vaginal prolapse and put forward two possible treatment options: surgery or pessary She also explained how the second option was preferable for my mother, in view of her age. What I appreciate even more is the dear manner in which this option was carefully explained to my mother by Dr. Hegde herself. She also made my mother understand that monthly follow-ups will be required. My Mother’s treatment is continuing well (since about 7 months), and there is no UTI any more and urinary incontinence is very much reduced. I express deep gratitude to Dr. Arpana Hegde for my mother’s care. My mother, on her part, looks forward to her follow-ups wherein she feels personal care and concern. I highly recommend Dr.Hegde to anyone requiring exceptional, sensitive and special care.

I have taken the help of someone to translate this review into English from Nepali. I do not have words to express my gratitude to Dr. Hegde. She is a genius. I am from Nepal and have been suffering from leaking of urine since many years. A few years ago, another doctor had performed a botched surgery that failed. The leaking or urine increased and had made my life really difficult. I would smell of urine daily. Even if I moved a little, i would leak a lot. I was very frustrated.

I visited many senior doctors and it was very difficult to find the right solution. Then someone recommended that I visit Dr. Hegde. She is a pioneer in three dimensional ultrasound of the pelvis and she can do sonography to understand where the previous sling is located and why it is causing problems. I was told that she is the only one who could diagnose what was going wrong and give the right treatment.

Dr. Hegde was very kind, warm and patient. She questioned me in a very detailed manner and understood the problem thoroughly. She did ultrasound and found out the position of the previous sling. She said that when i coughed, the sling was pulling apart the neck of the bladder increasing leak. She said that a repeat surgery would be needed to remove the previous sling and to take care of the leak. I had major financial issues and she was very considerate about that. She did a test called Urodynamics at very low cost to understand every issue with my bladder. She performed the surgery in the Government Hospital in Mumbai for free where she does charity work every morning.

The care was really considerate even though it was in a government hospital. I am very lucky that Dr. Hegde entered my life. She is truly a boon to society. She does charity work through her NGO also which is working throughout India. Please look up online and you will be amazed at her dedication to the women and children of India. Thank you for your help Dr. Hegde

Dr. Hegde has been an angel for my mother. My mother suffered from immense pain in the lower region of her abdomen for many many years. We approached so many doctors but nothing worked. One doctor finally told me that they would have do a major surgery that will remove her bladder and create a urinary diversion to the abdomen. She was very depressed hearing this and she was in a bad state for many years. We did not know what to do. We had also exhausted all our financial resources. We met Dr. Hegde when we had given up all hope. Things immediately transformed when we met her. Her warmth and kindness gave hope to my mother for the first time after many years. She gave us a lot of time and held my mother's hand when she cried. Yet she was professional where needed and guided my mother through the entire treatment process with a calm steady hand. Dr. Hegde is the best doctor we have ever met The only procedure my mother had to undergo was cystoscopy. And all other treatment was non-operative. My mother had a severe problem peeing in addition to the pain. Dr. Hegde explained that it is because her pelvic muscles were contracted in response to the pain. Dr. Hegde did biofeedback therapy for my mother weekly in which she was taught how to keep her lower muscles relaxed. It was really helpful as the spasm in the muscles was responsible partly for the severe pain. My mother also was put on a strict diet and several medication to rebuild the lining of her bladder.

My mother is pain-free now and goes for walks in the evening and has regained a good quality of life. We understand that the condition is chronic but we are confident that under the guidance of Dr. Hegde, my mother will have a good life.