Confinement Centre Viewings - Yuan Yuan Confinement Retreat Centre

Hubby found Yuan Yuan Confinement Retreat Centre browsing through Facebook recently. He said that we should really check it out as location wise it would be extremely convenient for us. I did a search online and found their website. However information on their website was meager and I sent off an online enquiry. I got a reply and also some calls to arrange for a viewing but I was really swamped at work during the later part of September and the whole of October that I forgot all about them.

I had by then decided that I was going to do it myself. (You can read my earlier postings on planning for my DIY Confinement, confinement food reviews and planning) So visiting the centre was the last thing on my mind until recently. Hubby and I have had very "lively" discussions (meaning near disagreements) about the helper that we were looking to hire. Hubby doesn't like stay in strangers and is more partial towards part time help that could come everyday and I felt that it was important to have someone stay in for at least the duration of my maternity leave. We both then decided that the silent treatment on this topic was necessary to maintain peace in the household, whilst I of course had a whole series of "videos" going on in my head of how Hubby was going to be doing everything when the part timer left after the contracted half day. (Not to mention, I had also cooked up a host of other things that I would make him do just to prove the point that we needed a full-time-stay-in helper! *Evil laugh*) But I am pleased to say that recently, I have been convicted to be a more loving and considerate wife...

I thought of another option as my previous research of confinement centres (you can read them here, here, and here)  allowed for shorter than 28 days stay. I also met a someone recently who shared that she only stayed in a confinement centre for 2 weeks and it was more than enough. It was her second child as well and she didn't want a confinement lady this time around. I decided to arrange a viewing of Yuan Yuan because it was really so near our place.

I called them on Sunday afternoon and asked if it was possible to visit within the next 1 hour. They were very accommodating and told me that I could come over any time. We arrived around 1.30 pm and we were greeted by a very pleasant Poh Poh (elderly lady) who spoke flawless English and showed us around. Then she introduced us to the owner Mr Lee who then proceeded to explain the package in detail.

Our first impressions of the home was good! The house itself was new and in a new development area. What made the place feel very spacious was the high floor to ceiling height! I think at least 9-10 feet high. Mind you, this is only an intermediate terraced house. The centre had 3 individual rooms and 1 shared room that can accommodate 3 mothers at one time. The rooms were pleasant and simple with clean white tiles and basic amenities like cupboards and cabinet space for storing your things, a flat screen TV and a 1 seater sofa for the bigger rooms. Even the shared room was homey with windows and natural lighting! We both liked it straightaway. It obviously scored a lot of brownie points!

Overall, the center has more of a "homey" feel than all the other centers I have visited. This is probably due to the fact that it has limited number of rooms and the renovations were done in such a way that the place still look and feel like a house rather than a confinement center.

Once again I didn't take any photos! (Duh...really got to put a string on my finger next time...) Anyway, I had to hunt high and low for some photos on their facebook page and after scrolling and scrolling right to the end, I found 4 pictures to share.

This is the general living room area when you first enter the center

These are picture of the individual rooms ie. Deluxe rooms

This is the Shared room 

These are the following things that we found out:-

1. Breastfeeding friendly - They encourage and will assist to carry the baby to the mother every two hours throughout the day and at night. This is even for the shared room! 
2. Their prices are really reasonable and good value. starting from as low as RM 5,799 (shared room), deluxe room at RM 7,599 and VIP room at RM 8,699. This is for the 28 days package.
3. They also have a separate category of packages called "Premium", so you can basically upgrade the Shared, Deluxe and VIP room to Shared Premium (RM 7,599), Deluxe Premium and VIP Premium. Cost of the Shared Premium is RM 7,599, Deluxe Premium RM 8,799  If you book the premium package, you will get birds nest soup, double boil chicken essence, traditional post natal massage and facial cleansing session. Obviously the more expensive the package, the more food and massage/facial sessions you will get. 
4. Baby diaper is also included for the 28 days. They use disposal diapers. 
5. To book your space, you only need to pay RM 1,000 as a booking fee. Then when you check into the center you pay another RM 3,000. After two weeks of staying there, you will then pay the remaining balance.
6. They have NO SURCHARGE for Chinese New Year! Thank goodness there are still businesses that don't take the chance to charge extra, extra JUST because it is Chinese New Year. 
7. Their caregivers are not registered nurses but experienced individuals that have taken care of mummies and know how to take care of newborns. 
8. Herbal bath for both Mummy and baby.
9. Based on the information that they gave me, they will also have a registered nurse who will visit to check on Mum and babe twice a week. 
10. No problems with parking of course because it is a housing area. 
11. Visiting hours are also pretty flexible. 

Everything was just perfect for us! Hubby was already convinced. It is about 5-10 mins away from home, the price was reasonable and value for money, I could go home at anytime, don't have to stress about help and food...convenient for hubby and Chapati to come visit...what else could I ask for? 

Ok , ok I don't sound very enthusiastic because I had already set my heart and mind on spending my confinement at home...putting together my own food menu...planning how to organise the house and help...just being in my own home...so I told them that I would get back to them in the next few days. Hubby seemed a little upset with me because he kept saying that if we wait we may not be able to the secure the room. I just told him that I needed a day or two to think about it and come to terms with the different plan. So we went home and talked about it, taking into account cost of food, a helper that would come to the house everyday, utilities for cooking, washing and cleaning. We estimated that food would come up to about RM 2,000 plus overall ( I already spent RM 1554.54 on the confinement herbs from Eu Yang Sang) Then the helper would probably cost us RM 1,500 - RM 2,000 for the whole month. Essentially we would be saving about RM 1,000 plus...

Basically it was RM 1,000 more for being totally looked after and having peace of mind! I caved in and we went to pay the deposit last Saturday! So I am now officially going to go to a confinement center. I really hope that everything will be alright, so now I will have to adjust to idea of living somewhere else for 28 days and go to Eu Yan Sang to speak to them about changing some of the stuff that I initially purchased for the confinement package. 

I also told Hubby that since we have all the herbs and alcohol like DOM, he would have learn how to boil the chicken essence for me everyday! 

If any of you Mummies had awesome and positive experiences staying in a confinement home, please do share! Thank you!