Epidurals in Public Hospitals

T

TKOMom

New member
Hi,

Can anyone tell me if Queen Mary will provide me with an epidural if I request it, and whether epidurals are available 24hrs at this hospital?

Can anyone share their experiences in receiving an epidural in a public hospital?

Thanks
 
Hi TKOMom,

I gave birth at QM and got an epidural. They have excellent facilities. My epidural came within 2 hours after I requested it. I'm not sure if they have this 24 hours a day but I requested for it at about 7 am and got it at about 9 am. Their service is really great.

Good Luck

Val
 
Thanks Val,

Could you tell me if you were a general or private patient? I'm considering registering as a general patient, but I'm worried that the hospital will try to save money by only providing epidurals if the doctor orders it, not the patient.

Thanks
 
TK,

I remember one of the nurses had told us at Tsan Yuk that QM has a daily quota on the number of epidurals administered. Val may have been lucky as it was quite early in the day. I have heard that if you ask for one, they will arrange it for you. But not sure what happens when they've met their quota!

Anyone else?

Rani

Rani
 
Unlike the private hospitals, QM has an anaesthetist on duty in the hospital 24 hours a day. I was very grateful for the fact that they did not force or try to suggest an epidural until I asked for it (I was warned that this may be the case in private hospitals as the anaesthetist is not always available). In the event, I was given an epidural within about 10 mins of asking for it. More importantly, if there is a real emergency requiring a general anaesthetic, at least you can have confidence that the QM will be able to cope with this. The private hospitals may not have an anaesthetist on site. I believe that the quota for epidurals is for the number of patients receiving epidurals at any one time because they require extra monitoring. I have not heard of anyone who was refused one for this reason, although I suppose it is possible if they are very busy. I had my epidural in the evening.
Try not to be too worried by the staff at the Tsan Yuk, I found that once admitted to QM the staff there were far more flexible and accommodating.
 
My wife gave birth last June at Queen Elizabeth Hospital as a general patient and received an epidural within about 30 minutes of requesting one. Very happy with the service there.

Graham
 
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