brand new MOM to be

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khorana

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I home-tested positiv on being 1st time pregnant two days ago.
My husband and I are very happy about it!!!
The doctors appointement is on wednesday, he had no earlyer date available.
I might be way to quick in my thoughts but this situation is so new to me, I am a little panicking here, thats why I already checked out the possibilities about giving birth in Hong Kong.

In my home country I would go to the next Gyn., would choose one of many similar highly professional hospitals for delivery and everything would run automatically with no need to worry....

Hong Kong scares me at this point...!

Here are my questions:
What are the costs approximately alltogether for check-ups and delivery the natural way at a private hospital?
(online I can only find the costs for hospital+delivery)

How many check-ups during pregnancy are neccessary?

If I am not satisfied with the doctor I have the appointement with next week, can I just change to another one who also works at my chosen hospital without getting in trouble somehow?
(They asked me already on the phone about my prefered hospital for delivery.)

Would it be ok to go to a private gynaecologist during pregnancy but deliver at a public hospital with another doctor?

I only read about these things online, don?t have any friends with children here in HK, so this situation is quite overwhelming.

All Your help is highly appreciated!
 
First of all congratulations, a very exciting time for you and your husband.

I can't help you with the costs for the private hospital sorry as I delivered in a public hospital.

To answer some of your questions.....

There is no set amount of times you have to see the doctor during your pregnancy. When I was pregnant I saw a private doctor at 9 weeks - to confirm pregnancy and get a referral letter to register with the public hospital, 12 weeks for a scan for nuchal test, 20 weeks because I wanted a 3d/4d scan (dvd) and 27 weeks only because I needed to fly to Australia and needed a letter to confirm it was a normal pregnancy with no complications for the airline to allow me to get on the plane (needed it after 28 weeks). The public check ups were just a quick weight, blood pressure and urine test to confirm everything was progressing well and a chat with the midwife until it was later in the pregnancy or if they found anything of concern in which case you saw the doctor . They started I think at every 8 weeks then went to monthly then 2 weekly then the last few weeks is every week.

If you are not happy with the private doctor you have an appointment with swapping to another one is not a problem you are the one paying the bill so make sure you are happy. Just make sure you do swap sooner rather than later as the private hospitals do book up very quickly and I think the booking is only valid with the doctor who booked it not you meaning if you swap doctors your booking gets canceled by the first doctor and the second doctor has to try to rebook.

You can also see a private doctor for check ups and then deliver in a public hospital although you will not get to choose the doctor who will do the delivery it will be however is on duty at the time.

Good luck with the pregnancy.
 
Thank You mazamarie for the quick reply!

The more I read the more the idea of going to a public hospital appears to me.
"There are the "real" doctors if there would be some complications"-is what someone posted.

I also don?t need to built a close relationship to the doctor who helps me deliver but I want excellent professionalism from the doctor during pregnancy.

I am just wondering if the private doc would be at his best, knowing I am not willing to deliver in his hospital...?
 
Hi Khorana, firstly CONGRATULATIONS!!

Do not worry, I am sure you will have a very good pregnancy and birthing experience in Hong Kong. Everything will run smoothly :)

Let me answer your questions with my own experience.

1. Total cost for me (consultation+delivery+anaesthetics+hospitals+pediatric) amounts to about HKD120,000 @ Matilda (private room).

2. I had 14 check-ups in total. More frequent in the first and last few weeks of pregnancy.

3. Yes you can change doctor. It is important you find someone you are comfortable with.

4. Yes you can go to a private OBGYN for consultation and deliver in a public hospital. As Mazamarie mentioned above, you cannot choose your doctor at a public hospital.

Give us a shout if you have more questions!
 
Hi

Agree with the above with some of my own observations below:

(1) My delivery at Matilda almost 2 years ago was $100K all up (hospital, specialist, anathetist and pediatrician - private room). Antenatal check ups on top of that at monthly, then 2 weekly then weekly. In terms of delivery costs alone, I thought it came in a bit cheaper than I thought it might be but we had full insurance so were less concerned. If you are paying yourself, bear in mind it could be very high if you need an emergency c-section. There is a list of doctor charges on this site.

(2) If you are booking Matilda with one doctor and then change, I understand that this is no problem - one of the posters looked into this recently and spoke with Matilda directly (think it was you Geomum?)

(3) Some of the well known/popular obstetricians will NOT take on a new patient if you are not delivering at a private hospital so it would pay to check with your doctor at your first appointment. I expect the rationale is that they are so popular that they do not need to take on patients where they will not collect on their delivery fee. You have to book early at Matilda (can't recall but maybe as early as 9 weeks?) and same likely of the other private hospitals - Adventist etc and then you need to pay a deposit so you'll need to make a decision on hospital sooner rather than later. The deposits are in most cases non-refundable.

Good luck. If you need a recommendation for an obstetrician after your first visit then please let us know.

SB2
 
Tomorrow is finally the day of my first doctors appointement!

I AM SO EXCITED!

I really consider to deliver at Matilda, but am still in negotiations with my private insurance company. (It is based in Europe and I am a little concernd they really know how to handle my case, even though they are giving me positive feedback.)

The doctor I am seeing tomorrow works for Matilda.

How fast do I have to decide on the hospital, do I have to sign anything right there tomorrow at my first appointement?

Would Matilda really not pay the deposit back in case I choose another hospital? I understand since there is a waiting list, other ladies would be happy to "jump in" ??

You might think I should wait and see until my appointement tomorrow....., but I always wanna be prepared and I?m so nervous...!
 
Good luck for the appointment.

You can book at Matilda through your doctor any time from 9 weeks along and they will let your doctor know if you have received a place. Any later than 9 weeks and I would say that it would be difficult for you to get in. I booked at 9 weeks and still waited 4 weeks before receiving confirmation that I had a place (some posters on this thread were not confirmed until 30 odd weeks along!). You then need to pay a deposit within 4 weeks of a confirmed place. See below:

http://www.matilda.org/pdf/maternity/matprocedureeng.pdf

As I understand, Matilda will not refund your deposit if you change your mind but will refund most of it if there is a medical reason for the change of hospital (I am assuming that this would be, for example, if your baby was premature and you had to go to a public hospital). See below:

Matilda International Hospital

Hope the links work ok.

SB2
 
PS not sure whether Matilda would agree to a refund if you just changed your mind but were able to find someone that would take your booking.
 
I went to my first appointement and found out I am in my 5. week!!!

So for now, I keep quiet hoping and praying everything will go well and by the next ultrasound I can hear the heartbeat of my first baby already.....

We are sooooo excited and happy!

The doctor I am seeing is really helpfull and I recived a lot of information already.

I am also very thankful for this Forum, because it answers so many of my questions....!

...especially, since we don?t want to tell anyone about it yet in that early stage..!

Thank You All!!!
 
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