Best place to live in HK if pregnant?

S

SallyG

New member
We have just moved to hong kong 2 weeks ago and I've just discovered I'm pregnant.

We are in serviced apartments in soho temporarily but want to move ASAP as it is noisy and small.

Really at a loss to know where would be best for pregnancy and then with a small baby, any help or advice would be much appreciated.

We have been looking already at Wanchai, Kennedy town, and mid levels (but not sure of all the stairs in mid levels when pregnant are a good idea). We are also considering DB but there is no hospital so is this sensible?

Any suggestions help would be great!

Many thanks.
 
of course it is sensible.... you are pregnant, not dying! how do you think women all over hong kong manage? they don't move somewhere simply because they are pregnant.

you need to decide what your priorities are for AFTER the baby comes, not for during your pregnancy. once you know what is important to you, then you can start sorting out where to look.

some ideas to consider:
1) budget
2) where does hubby/you work? how long for commuting would you/he be able to put up with?
3) do you need easy access to the airport for business travel?
4) do you prefer space over location? or visa versa?
5) do you want a building with amenities such as pool, kids' playground/playroom?
6) do you plan on hiring a helper?
7) do you eat out a lot?
8) will you use the private healthcare or public healthcare?
9) are you a naturally outgoing person who wants to meet up many times per week with friends/other expectant mums? or do you prefer peace and quiet and meeting up once per month?
10) are you looking for a place with a private garden/balcony/rooftop?
11) would you consider living on a live-aboard boat?
12) budget?
13) budget?
14) budget?
 
Hi! We just moved to hk too and I am currently pregnant, with a 2 year old toddler in tow. Have explored alot of areas before deciding. Midlevels seems tough with the stairs you are right.. We finally decided on happy valley and couldn't be happier. There are supermarkets, banks, restaurants, coffee joints, a playroom and playground all within walking distance. Causeway bay and wanchai are just a short ride away. There is the tram and buses nearby as well. There is even a library. Give it some thought?
 
Thanks fir your reply, yes you are right I'm pregnant not dying! It's easy to panic in a new country just two weeks..

My hubby works in central and is prepared to commute up to about 30/40 mins. We have a budget of up to 36k and want to have nice two bedroom room or three bedroom place, with a balcony if possible, but garden not necessary. Would like to have a building with some facilities, pool or gym if living on the island or be near a public pool/gym.

Reasonably social but like time to myself too, hoping to meet friends I can catch up with a couple of times a month.

My hubby is quite keen to stay on hong kong island for the first year we are hear but I am thinking maybe somewhere like DB is better with small baby.
 
having lived almost everywhere in my 16 years here (i stopped counting after my 18th move...) i can say that DB is FANTASTIC for babies/young children. each village has a playground area, there is a beach (not great for swimming, but great for playing), club houses with indoor/outdoor pools/indoor play areas/bowling/tennis/squash/tennis/classes etc.

it is 25-ish minutes by comfortable ferry to central (near IFC), that is very rarely late (no traffic jams to worry about!), has quite a few restaurants, a decent supermarket (there is a second supermarket, but i've not been to it), as well, it is VERY easy to meet people!

for a $36k budget, you may struggle to find something up to your standard on hk island and you will get more bang for your buck with DB.

or you could also look at sai kung. with your budget, you'd get 2 floors of a village house (1400') with either a garden or a rooftop & balcony. however, it takes longer to get to central... closer to the 40-50 minutes, especially during rush hour.
 
Thanks, 25 minutes commute is fine, Sai Kung probably a bit far, we will take a trip out to DB and see what it's like but it sounds great.

Thanks for all the posts - v helpful
 
Hey just to add, if ur hb works in central, it is not a long ride away fr happy valley either. There are straight buses n I believe the tram goes there too. My hb works in wanchai n he takes the tram. It is v efficient n r extremely cheap! Just 2.30 hkd or sthg! For myself, my obgyn is in central n a cab ride there is about 35-40hkd. During the weekends, we go to soho for brunch n its almost always slightly below 50hkd. Hope to help!
 
I also recommend sally6 takes a look at West Kowloon - only 4 minutes on the MTR to Hong Kong for your husband, a clean safe environment for children... plus Elements has a good supermarket, cinema, ice skating rink... all the developments have good clubhouses too. We lived here through pregnancy and now with our baby and we love it.

For 36k you can get a 2 bedroom place, 1000 sq ft+ in most of the developments I suspect.
 
I m 5 months pregnant and live in Happy Valley and I do know that lots of people find it child friendly area but I cannot imagine myself with the baby here. Narrow streets no park close by to go for a walk etc. I m considering to move to Discovery Bay I think this is great place to rais the baby. The disadventage is the ferry but it is on time so you just need to be more organise. The thing I want to say just have a look areound and decide what area is best for you and your family. The pleace that is perfect for one prson might not be so perfect for another :)! Good luck in your surch :)!
 
Like Cara noted above, it really depends on your personal preferences. Would agree that you should look at Happy Valley. Have friends who live there and love it and its one of the few neighborhoods on HK island that we considered (with a baby and big dog). You get a local neighborhood feel, along with parks (and a nice indoor playroom which is a big deal when its hot and rainy), coffee shops, decent supermarkets, a bookstore, restaurants and other local businesses and you're close to Central/ Causeway Bay (insanely crowded but fun for shopping/ eating/ foot massages, etc.)/ an MTR link to anywhere in HK. There is a decent amount of green, although not much grass, except for the racetrack. Victoria Park in Causeway Bay is quite closeby and a wonderful green haven in the city with parks/ grass/ trees/ ponds. A great place for spending time outdoors with a baby on HK island.

I also know people who stay at Kowloon West, but to me the environment is so sterile and lacks character (but, this is just my personal opinion). Those who like in enjoy the convenience of living in quite new apartments with clubhouse facilities, atop a huge mall and MTR station with a big (expensive, even for us) western grocery store and lots of (pretty commercial) restaurants around. There is a "park" nearby with grass, but it also has a sterile, planned feel (again, my personal opinion). But it is a good size and nice for kids to run around.

You might also want to take a look at Stanley. Your budget is on the low side for the area, but you would be able to get into a nice 2 bedroom or small 3 bedroom at Stanford Villa (relatively new development) and a number of the other buildings near the waterfront and market. The market closes very early in the evening, so no noise issues. Stanley has a lot of expat families with young kids, a much lower population density than most areas on HK island, its very green and leafy, decent restaurants, a children's park and great indoor playroom (free), plenty of formal and informal playgroups for all ages, a good library, big grocery store (and a couple smaller ones), and plenty of room for children to play at several beaches (which are all within walking distance from anywhere in Stanley. Commute time to Central ranges from 20-40 minutes, with traffic playing a big part. It usually takes me about 35 minutes door to door in a taxi to get from Stanley to IFC/ Exchange Square in Central. Getting a taxi at anytime of day isn't a problem. There are good bus and minibus links to Admiralty/ Central/ Causeway Bay/ Chai Wan/ Aberdeen. If you're the kind of person who likes to get to know some neighbors, Stanley is a nice place for that kind of thing with so many families with small kids about.
 
Your budget is larger than ours and we live in the Island East area. For that budget, you could check out this area - North Point, North Point Hill, Taikoo Shing, Sai Wan Ho, etc... You can find something that suits your needs here for that budget.

Things I love about this area:

- MTR is pretty close, public transport is good
- Quarry Bay Park is in my opinion the best on Hong Kong Island
- being on the island, it's cheap and easy to get a taxi everywhere we need to go (we rarely cross the harbour)
- close to lots of shops/facilities - close to Causeway Bay, Citiplaza is a great mall too...
- lots of kids around, I have many mum-friends in this area
- My hubby works above Landmark, Central and his commute is about 25 minutes
- get more for your money compared to midlevels etc

I could go on - but needless to say, I think it's worth checking out this area as well :)
 
LOL! we rarely cross the harbour the other way! as a matter of fact, hubby and i are considering renting a hotel room later this month, just so he and i can experience the city life again for a night!
 
As some pointed out, there are other considerations that might trump just the fact of being pregnant. However, the one thing you might consider keeping in mind the pregnancy angle is whether you intend to deliver in the private or public system.

If you're covered by insurance to go private or have the budget for it, you might consider Mathilda which seems to be the most accomodating of all kinds of birth plans or failing that, Adventist or Sanitoriam. Then, you'd be with an Ob/Gyn who delivers there, who'd most likely be in Central-ish area on HK Island. So you might prefer to live on the Island for ease of travel to appointments as well as ease of getting to the hospital (though transport in HK is very good, for my last pregnancy, I did find it a bit of a pain to trek down to Central from the New Territories for appointments). There are of course good ob/gyns all over HK (such as my current one) but I think the hospitals on the Island might cater more to the expat mindset than the Kowloon ones.

If you're going public, then I might keep in mind the public hospital I'd prefer to deliver in. My top choice would be Pamela Nethersole in Chai Wan, because there is a good possibility of getting a private room there (and they don't backcharge all the treatments so it doesn't work out too expensive, you're just paying higher room rates). So you need to live in the catchment area of that hospital (though some have managed to register without living in the area, you have a choice of where you live so you might as well). I think Happy Valley would fall into the area, and I'm sure Tin Hau eastward does. My second choice would be Queen Mary - it is the most expat friendly of the public hospitals and harder to get into if you don't live in area. You can't get a private room there, unless you pay private charges throughout which is as expensive as going private completely.

I was one of those quite scornful of the new HK developments which have MTR with mall on top and then estate on top of that with clubhouse, pool etc. Until I landed in one with a baby and realised it has big advantages. They might be something to consider since you have a small child too.

HK weather can be extremely humid and sometimes rainy. Although I prefer my son to play in the park, on these days - and there are many such days in summer - it's great that there's the option of the playroom right there. The playroom has ensured that at least he interacts with other kids and I don't have to enroll him in classes just so he learns to interact. The convenience of the pool - which we are yet to use - is another plus.

It is also extremely convenient to have the supermarket (and in our case wet market too) connected to the estate. So on rainy days, it's no hassle for my helper to take my son with her grocery shopping (I go to office). As an added bonus, we have the pediatrician also right below us in the mall.

HK on the whole is convenient but these are just added bonuses. As someone said, maybe these developments lack character. But with a young kid - and you'll soon have two - convenience might trump living in a more character-filled area. Just because your estate has these facilities, nothing stops you from getting out onto the street for walks or taking jaunts nearby and to other parts of HK with your child.

If your older kid is of school-going age, that's another big thing to keep in mind, proximity to school. I'm quite clueless on the school situation so won't go into that.
 
Have u considered pok Fu lam? You get slightly more space compared to happy valley or mid levels. It is also very convenient to many schools and the public hospital there is arguably the best in HK.
 
PS: Sorry, I thought Sally had a toddler and was pregnant. Ignore the part I wrote about having two kids...
 
I live in North Point. I wouldn't recommend it to you.
It's ok for a local (like me), but having lived abroad for a long time myself, if I had the money, I would move somewhere else. It's so crowded everywhere you go! I live on Java Road, it's a nightmare from my building to the MTR station - lots of people, plus lots of stalls occupying half the pavement. It's kind of stressful.

I've lived here for nearly two years, so I think I can cope with it after my baby is born. But if I were you, new to HK, having your budget and requirements, I would choose West Kowloon, like some have suggested. It's convenient commuting to Central, clean, and less crowded, and you get your club house with pools etc! Not to mention a nice view if your flat faces the HK island!
 
Hyda - I'm also in North Point, on Tanner Rd (Island Place) closer to the MTR station and I think it's great. Yes there are lots of people on the streets though - but we have so many awesome little food places and a great street market - it's worth it. People are here because there's stuff to do - if there was no one on the streets, it'd be because there's nothing here for them to come out here for!! I would like a better club house, but at least we have a pool and a kids playground. And significantly more space than if we were paying the same rent in West Kowloon! I've been here for nearly 5 years (in which time we've had two kids), from when we first moved to Hong Kong. We plan on probably moving a little further east to the Taikoo Shing area - but I know we'll miss North Point as well. It's a great place to live :) I'm not local either - I'm Australian. I know quite a few expats who also live here and love it :)
 
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