Choosing a hospital?!%@*

M

mumto2

Registered User
I am soooo confused! lol

I had my first 2 babies at public hospital (not here) and am very comfortable - I had very good and easy natural deliveries so have no real fears about that part but still have those normal want to make sure all goes well ones...

My catchment for hospital would be Princess Margaret and to be honest I have heard really bad stories about their maternity ward...a friend of mine had her sons collar bone broken during delivery and they didn't even tell her for 2 days! Kind of shrugged it off like it was normal. Another friend who delivered there had a very hard time having them listen to her and her birth plan. So I'm a bit uneasy.

My preference would be to deliver at QMH if we went public to be honest. How doable do you think it would be to just kind of mosey across and pretend I'd been shopping in central once I go into labour? lol Actually I'm serious...they wouldn't turn me away would they?

The other thing I guess to do is to bite the bullet and just pay the astronomical sums for private hospital...Sanitorium would probably be my pick...its just so expensive and I really object to paying so much for a doctor to deliver when they usually don't and the midwives do! lol And I usually leave the day I deliver so paying a fortune for a room that I (hopefully/probably) won't use seems ridiculous as well.

Actually the third choice is to just go home and not have to worry about any of this but then you are gone for a month without hubby which is always sad...

Any thoughts or advice??
 
I was in the same situation as you are and am due in August. I was in the catchment for Tsuen Mun hospital and read lots of things on here about how bad it is so was in a real panic. I also was in a situation where m first was born very prematurely so I was concerned about their ability to cope with this. I did not want to pay for private as would probably end up in a public hospital in the end anyway!

I had enough insurance to go private for my OB appointments and had him write me a referral for Prince of Wales hospital. I went in there and they accepted me no problem so I am more at ease and have had some appointments there also so they are fully aware of my history.

Hope this long winded answer helps and good luck!

Amy
 
thanks Amy, I also will see a private OB...I wasn't aware you could ask them to refer you...do you think I could get a referral to QMH even though its not my catchment?
 
I know someone who has registered at a different public hospital using her relative's address - that might be another option if you have a friend willing to let you use their address.
 
My OB had offered to write me a letter for QMH but because I live in NT I opted for Prince of Wales instead so I think that they would accept you. In prince of wales they did not question the referral letter at all, just asked to keep a copy of it (no begging required on my part!)

The referral letter itself was from Dr Alex Doo and it just said that due to complications in my last pregnancy I would prefer to give birth at a teaching hospital. This was not an issue. It would do no harm to try anyway!
 
for proof of address... just have your mobile phone bill or something sent to your friend's place until after delivery? would that work?
 
mmm definitely something to think about....thanks ladies...else I'll jump on the ferry and just turn up at QMH's doorstep! lol
 
i recently gave birth at PMH and it was fine and not that different to QMH. But delivery room in QMH was nicer (view/more spacious) but PMH midwives/nurses were much more friendlier and encouraging in my opinion. If you have any questions, you can PM me.
 
Well thanks to a PM and just speaking to QMH, I have found out that QMH is actually still considered to be my catchment zone! lol Apparently you run into trouble if you need an ambulance because then they will take you to the nearest one, PMH for me...
 
Well I started out at POW (I lived in Tai Po) and moved to QMH (moved to south side) and had an elective c-section booked at Matilda Went through the whole registration process and clinics at both public hospitals. Then.... ended up with a home birth because baby was in an awful hurry (25 minutes all up!) and the ambulance took me to RuttonJee in Wan Chai, then to QMH. As I didn't think to pick up my registration card on the way to the ambulance QMH had no record of my registration so I had to go through the whole process again but, as I clearly needed to be admitted immediately they couldn't have cared less where I actually lived.

Having delivered at public hospitals for my first two (in New Zealand) I had no problems with the public system here. A little more 'clinical' in their approach but no real complaints. In the end, with all the ambulance transfers, the fact that my new born did not have HK ID (what's with that???) and the fact that he had to stay in the special care unit for a week (because he was born at home...) the total bill still came in under $1000. I can now set myself to dreaming of what I might do with the $100,000 we saved by not making it to Matilda!
 
it doesn't matter if you baby has a HKID (how would that be possible)... what matters is that the MOTHER (the initial patient) has a HKID... that's why your bill was so little.
 
no - my hubby had both our ID's but until we could also produce the birth cert we were expected to pay the 'non-resident' A&E charge at RuttonJee of $470. Just paid it to avoid the hassle of having to get back there with all the paperwork....

QMH did not have this problem.
 
that is weird Fee - they shouldn't have done that, if you produce a HKID of yours or hubby's, that's all is required for a child under 12. Still, I'm sure $470 didn't exactly break the bank ;-) lol As opposed to $100K... :-O

Wow about your birth story though! You're so cool and brave! Glad all turned out well. I also have visions of giving birth in the back of an ambulance or on the ferry!
 
babies are charged $50 per day(i believe) so there is nothing wrong with what you paid, fee... that's the proper rate.

if he had required a HKID then you would have been paying well over $3000/day.
 
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