Downs screening at private OB

A

Aquarian

Registered User
If you are planning to ask your OB to carry out downs screening during your pregnancy, please read the following research paper and ask your OB whether they certified to do it.

*Many OBs in HK offer this service even though they are not certified.*

Don't just assume anyone with an ultrasound is qualified to do it.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/19966349/
 
Thanks for the info above. Very helpful.

I need to remember I am not in NY anymore and things are done differently here
 
hi mingaling.

i had a question for you as a us citizen mommy. what are the benefits that you saw of birthing in hk as opposed to NY?

also, im assuming you plan to apply for us citizenship with the new baby right away? thank you

joy
 
Hi Joy

It's more complicated here than in NY. I would of preferred having my baby there.

First of all, my insurance would of covered most of the costs of checkups and delivery up front. Here, I have to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed by my insurance company later.

Second, I had to reserve my space with the hospital that I chose here with a $20,000 non refundable deposit which is unnecessary in the states.

Third, by my 16th week, my doctor was shocked that I hadn't booked my hospital yet. And when I started looking into hospitals, my first and second choice were already fully booked. Quite honestly, during my first trimester, the hospital was the last thing on my mind. I was just hoping my baby makes it past the first trimester.

And yes, I plan on obtaining citizenship and getting her a social security number for her right away (not sure what the procedure is yet though).

I hope I answered your questions.
 
True - I chose the private route. With the public route, you get 2 checkups I believe (one at 12 weeks and the second at 20). I compared notes with a woman that went public and private is more personal. During my 12 week scan, my doc gave me 20 black and white pictures of my baby (profile, hands, toes, head, leg, etc), a DVD of my entire 12 min ultrasound, my husband was able to sit next to me in a comfy seat and hold my hands, and doc was patient enough to sit with us afterwards and walked us through everything. With or without insurance, we would of opted for the more personal care. I get checkups every 4 weeks and my husband and I look forward to each and every one of them. We get black and white photos along with 4D pics of our little girl with every visit. Each visit is priceless to us.

Also, a big selling point is that with private, there is no wait. My appt is at 9:30am, I get seen at 9:35am at the latest.
 
Absolutely agree that private care is a lot more convenient and pleasant, I'm just pointing out that there is an alternative to the cost and hassle of finding a private hospital bed and you do get regular checkups (all of which my husband attended), just not in the early days.

I also think private obs are very quick to encourage (and charge for!) scans- and as they have not yet been proven to be safe, personally I would only choose to have them when medically necessary.
 
Last edited:
Can u please recommend me ur private doctor? I would have loved to have that experience, my doctor, in and out in 5 min and a snapshot of a 2d scan...

Thanks

I think I'll do a combo
Of private n public
 
Realjoy,

My first doctor did the same during my 8 week appt (in and out in a matter of minutes and was not informative). Needless to say, I didn't go back to her.

My current doctor's name is dr lam of prenatal diagnostics center. My husband and I like him a lot. But he's also more expensive compared to the first doctor I had. I guess you can inquire about the costs and make a decision then whether or not to use him. Hope it works out and good luck with the pregnancy.

Hong Kong
central
Queens Road 5
Phone number - 2877 3280
 
Aquarian

Not sure what you mean by scans not proving safe. Scans are done in the states every 4 weeks to monitor development. It's the norm there and I have not heard of any instances where it caused harm to any baby or fetus. If you know of anything, please forward along any articles you may of come across.

Some moms-to-be on this forum believe extra checkups and scans are not necessary (aside from the 12 and the 20) and not worth the cost if there's nothing wrong (which is fine and to each their own) but I absolutely do. Not only do I want to make sure she's developing as she should by way of measurements and doc confirming her organs look good, but I love seeing her moving about in my belly on the big screen in the doctors office. To see my belly do waves on the outside is one thing, to actually seeing my baby girl inside moving my belly outside is something else.
 
Realjoy

Also please note during the 12 week checkup, they check for Down's syndrome. Not sure if u are going to check for that but if so, the doctor's office is prompt with calling u and giving you the results. I got a phone call the next day by early afternoon time with the good news.
 
Mingaling said:
Aquarian

Not sure what you mean by scans not proving safe. Scans are done in the states every 4 weeks to monitor development. It's the norm there and I have not heard of any instances where it caused harm to any baby or fetus. If you know of anything, please forward along any articles you may of come across.

Some moms-to-be on this forum believe extra checkups and scans are not necessary (aside from the 12 and the 20) and not worth the cost if there's nothing wrong (which is fine and to each their own) but I absolutely do. Not only do I want to make sure she's developing as she should by way of measurements and doc confirming her organs look good, but I love seeing her moving about in my belly on the big screen in the doctors office. To see my belly do waves on the outside is one thing, to actually seeing my baby girl inside moving my belly outside is something else.
Click to expand...

As far as i know from American friends of mine, a full ultrasound is *not* carried out every 4 weeks - not least because insurance companies won't pay for them that frequently.

Here are 2 links, one from the US FDA and one from the UK NHS. Parents are warned *not* to get ultrasounds just so they can have a look at the baby.

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm095508.htm

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2010/02February/Pages/Warning-over-souvenir-baby-scans.aspx
 
Aquarian

My insurance now, whether it be in the states or here, covers checkups every 4 weeks (anything more frequent would be out of pocket for me). I have quite a few friends in NY that's pregnant now since we are all at the age and they have their checkups and ultrasounds regularly at every 4 weeks. So did both my sisters and each of them has 2 healthy kids. And yes, insurance covered all of their visits.

I read the FDA article and it refers to hour long "keepsake videos" without medical oversight and over the counter Doppler ultrasounds that's used generally at home. I did not read the other one as it's UK news related. I am sorry but that FDA article speaks nothing of how scans when used properly are harmful.

Let's just agree to disagree and call it a day. Again, I have no judgment for those that go without more regular checkups and go public. I just prefer the other route.
 
Mingaling said:
Aquarian

My insurance now, whether it be in the states or here, covers checkups every 4 weeks (anything more frequent would be out of pocket for me). I have quite a few friends in NY that's pregnant now since we are all at the age and they have their checkups and ultrasounds regularly at every 4 weeks. So did both my sisters and each of them has 2 healthy kids. And yes, insurance covered all of their visits.

I read the FDA article and it refers to hour long "keepsake videos" without medical oversight and over the counter Doppler ultrasounds that's used generally at home. I did not read the other one as it's UK news related. I am sorry but that FDA article speaks nothing of how scans when used properly are harmful.

Let's just agree to disagree and call it a day. Again, I have no judgment for those that go without more regular checkups and go public. I just prefer the other route.
Click to expand...

I find it odd you would only consider US opinion, but here are more links for you, from america, read them or not as you like. At the end of the day I think all parents should be as informed as they can be about decisions regarding their child and it's a concern that some doctors are encouraging mothers to have frequent unnecessary scans without explaining that it's against official medical advice.

http://www.aium.org/press/viewRelease.aspx?id=66

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/892788

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_ultrasound
 
Aquarian

I read your three articles...

Aium refers to prenatal portrait keepsakes that can take over an hour to produce which may cause unnecessary exposure usually performed by unskilled personnel.
Huff post refers to more keepsakes performed by non- medical personnel in boutiques in shopping malls.
Wiki states "no conclusive evidence for harmful effects of 3D ultrasounds".

Are you seriously sending me these links as supporting evidence of your argument? And I agree, all parents should be informed but of real concerns - and this is by no means a real concern.

I suggest you read these articles and actually digest what it's saying before coming to conclusions that are unfounded.

Do what you think is best for your baby and I will do the same for mine. And when my third trimester starts in 3 weeks, I will be getting them every two weeks thank you very much. And yes, my insurance company will pay for that too. I just had a nice chat with them to confirm.
 
Mingling, you can do what you like, but it doesn't change the fact that accepted medical advice is that ultrasounds should be used only when medically necessary until it has been proven that frequent scans are safe. Of course you are very welcome to scan your baby as many times as you like; I prefer to heed the experts and avoid subjecting my baby to unnecessary risk. That's where we differ.
 
What organizations are you familiar with that proves something is safe? Show me something that states clearly that it's harmful and then we can continue this conversation.

I hope your experts are not in the articles you sent...

Yes, I will continue to scan my baby (because nothing has said that it's harmful) along with most people living in the US. And I am fairly certain there's quite a few that get regular scans here in HK as well.

Have a good one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top