In-patient experience for baby in public system - how much time do you get to visit?

G

gzdad

New member
Hello all. First post here. We're usually in China - in HK for the baby!

So, he's about 20 days old and has been diagnosed with a bad infection that needs heavy antibiotics. We're in the private system (Matilda) and thinking of moving to a public hospital (probably Queen Mary) because of the better care if things go wrong etc.

But we're rather scared by the stated visiting hours - just 4 hours a day. It kind of breaks our heart to think we won't be with him for 20 hours eveyr day for the next two weeks. It's almost as long as he's already been alive!

So, does anyone have any experience of actual contact time with very young in-patient babies in the public system? Ideally we'd like to stay breast feeding him as much as possible. Or is it just fire-and-forget, you turn your baby over to the (well run, efficient, effective, but...) machine?

We're staying in a hotel, so happy to move to other areas if the local large hospital will be better. Though QM does seem pretty good!

Thanks for any help,

d.
 
in the pediatrics, one person can stay the entire time. my son broke his foot last year and was admitted over night in pediatrics (Tseung Kwan O Hospital). I was allowed to stay with him the entire time. they had a narrow "chair" that opened out to be flat so that i could try to sleep. but you need your own blanket and pillow... not sure the set up at QMH, though, but sure it would likely be similar.
 
Thanks

carang said:
in the pediatrics, one person can stay the entire time. my son broke his foot last year and was admitted over night in pediatrics (Tseung Kwan O Hospital). I was allowed to stay with him the entire time. they had a narrow "chair" that opened out to be flat so that i could try to sleep. but you need your own blanket and pillow... not sure the set up at QMH, though, but sure it would likely be similar.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Was that more than the advertised visiting hours? I just can't believe it's good for baby to have onky four hours contact with their parents. Also, of course, hard to keep up with the breast milk and feeding!


Any others with experience?
 
Queen Mary Hospital

on this page it says that it must be "arranged" with the ward.... if i were you, i would call them to clarify their visiting hours. tell them you are considering moving your child from Matilda and that you want to clarify....
 
Cara told me about this thread and I wanted to come and post. My daughter was in NICU at QMH for 4 months. Since then, she has spent a day in PICU after a surgery.

In both NICU/Special care (same ward), the last I knew, visiting hours are 3-8pm. It is the same for PICU as far as I know. Visitors are restricted to parents only. Breastfeeding mothers are allowed at any time, but only for breastfeeding - and only if it does not interfere with doctors rounds etc...

NICU is hard going - particularly if it is for long term. For a few weeks, it is manageable. It even has some benefits - by being forced to be home, I found that I rested more and recovered faster than if I was looking after a newborn 24 hrs a day myself. QMH is probably the best hospital in HK for those kinds of situations - the NICU there has fantastic results. They are possibly overly cautious in some cases, but if it is a common situation, they are more used to dealing with it.

My opinion: IF you have the option, it is easier to stay in a private hospital. If there ARE complications, they will transfer your baby to the public hospital. You will be more comfortable there and probably less stressed. IF you want to take the "safer" road medically, QMH is the place to be but be prepared that it will not be emotionally easy for you...

If you want to chat more, please send me a private message.

All the best!!
 
...sorry, wanted to add more... IF you manage to get transferred to the pediatric ward as opposed to NICU, you will find conditions different - not necessarily better or worse. Because the nursing ratio is far lower, a parent will almost be required to stay with the baby and care for it at all times, doing most of the feeding, nappy changes etc... You will not be provided with a bed to sleep on though and will have to spend the night on the plastic chair or bring some bedding and sleep on the floor. I don't have experience with the pediatric ward - but this has been my experience with the pediatric surgery ward... I believe it is similar... So it is stressful in a different way.

When my daughter had bronchiolitis recently, she needed to be hospitalised. We chose to take her to a private hospital because I felt we could be more rested and better equipped to deal with it in that environment, knowing that if there WERE complications, we would be transferred. I don't regret my decision - it was so much easier in the private hospital - and our insurance paid for most of it as well.

So basically: private is more comfortable/emotionally easier. Public is better medically but be prepared because it is rough on you!!
 
so, i guess the difference is between the NICU/special care and regular pediatrics.... if you child is in just pediatrics, then you can stay, but if in NICU then not.

thanks, nicole!
 
good to know that different hospitals, even though all public, have different facilities. when my boy was in pediatrics, there was a very narrow chair that folded out to be a bed. i "slept" on it.... not very comfortable, but certainly better than a plastic chair.
 
nicolejoy said:
Cara told me about this thread and I wanted to come and post. My daughter was in NICU at QMH for 4 months. Since then, she has spent a day in PICU after a surgery.

In both NICU/Special care (same ward), the last I knew, visiting hours are 3-8pm. It is the same for PICU as far as I know. Visitors are restricted to parents only. Breastfeeding mothers are allowed at any time, but only for breastfeeding - and only if it does not interfere with doctors rounds etc...

NICU is hard going - particularly if it is for long term. For a few weeks, it is manageable. It even has some benefits - by being forced to be home, I found that I rested more and recovered faster than if I was looking after a newborn 24 hrs a day myself. QMH is probably the best hospital in HK for those kinds of situations - the NICU there has fantastic results. They are possibly overly cautious in some cases, but if it is a common situation, they are more used to dealing with it.

My opinion: IF you have the option, it is easier to stay in a private hospital. If there ARE complications, they will transfer your baby to the public hospital. You will be more comfortable there and probably less stressed. IF you want to take the "safer" road medically, QMH is the place to be but be prepared that it will not be emotionally easy for you...

If you want to chat more, please send me a private message.

All the best!!
Click to expand...

Nicole, and others: thanks so much for the replies and help. It's lovely to feel like we're in this foreign city dealing with a health system, and being helped by the kindness of strangers. Just reading your helpful responses makes us feel less alone!

All three of the health professionals we deal with (pd, nurse, midwife) all recommend a change to qm, so we're going to move today. It's good to know what to expect: good care, but not much parent support. The breast feeding access for the mother is really good news if true. That was our main concern. I guess we'll just set up camp in the cafeteria for two weeks!

I'll update you all on our experience!

D.
 
So, the facts:

- You can breast feed your child from 10am to 8pm. Form 10am to 3pm you have to wait outside and you get called in when your child is hungry. From 3pm to 8pm is visiting hours, and you can sit with your child. Your husband can join you.
- They will feed your child EMB over night provided it is provided FROZEN in quantities large enough for a full feed. So if your child is taking 150ml a feed you have to provide 3 x 150ml full frozen bottles.
- While you breast feed they bring a funny curtain on wheels around to protect you from prying eyes. Which is a bit funny. They're very strict on this.

Other observations:
- The doctors and nurses at QM work as a team in the way they do not at Matilda. It means you get a more consistent message, and I had a lot more trust in the continuity of care.
- The prices for incidental things at QM are a lot less than Matilda, so the non-insurance stuff can work out at about half the price it seemed.
- The food from the canteen is OK - the BBQ stuff is the best.
- The Delice'd France in the main block has good WiFi and isn't too expensive
- The seats outside the ward are rubbish and it gets very cold
- The doctors at QM thought they'd rather over-egged it at Matilda, and substantially reduced the dosage of antibiotics and their strength.

In general, I'm incredibly glad we made the switch. I like the bossy doctors and nurses at QM - they are the professionals. I prefer it to the slightly inconsistent supplicancy at matilda. And the detail they take over the care - the quality of notes and monitoring etc. - is just miles better. We weren't paricularly impressed with the nurses at the Matilda PD ward - specially the night ones. Though, as just said, we're not experts so it may have just been sleep deprived grump that made us think that.

Anyone got any questions I can help answer?

Thanks again for your help earlier!
 
i'm very sorry that you don't get more visiting hours. it is good to know that different public hospitals have different rules.

i hope your little one is doing better! that is the most important info you forgot! ;-)
 
Glad you are having a good experience there - sounds similar to my experience a few yrs ago! My understanding re the breastmilk is - if you only can provide 100mL of breastmilk for a 150mL feed, for example, they will feed the baby the breastmilk first, and then top up with formula, is that still the case? I know the visiting hrs are probably the worst part, but I hope it's "forcing" you to rest a bit more so you're not so sleep deprived...

All the best!
 
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