getting to the hospital

[wandasmart]

How has everyone found the cab drivers taking women up to the hospital with either contractions or if their water has broke?

I was told that some cabbies refuse hire.. and the Matilda told me to call an ambulance instead.

Is this a bit too excessive? Any comments?

 

[carang]

if you have a hkid then ambulances are free... why not?

i had to call one a couple of weeks before my boy was born, my blood pressure was through the roof and my hubby wanted the trip to be a little more relaxed than getting on a ferry, walking to a taxi stand, finding a taxi etc...

 

[Slee]

Sorry for hijacking this thread but I have a similar question. I've heard of someone getting an ambulance from DB to the Matilda, although the ambulance men really wanted to get to the nearest public hospital as things were getting so tight (baby was delivered by a Matilda midwife in the back of the ambulance in the carpark!).

My question is: has anybody experienced or heard of someone getting to a private hospital from an Outlying island? It would be good if we don't have to camp out on Hong Kong island for an extended time so I'd love some tips on how to ensure that we don't get shipped off to QMH if I go into labour in the middle of the night. There are no ferries between 11.30 PM and 6.20 AM so I'm a bit worried about what would happen if I went into labour at Midnight. As it is, our daughter always starts running really high fevers at 11.30 PM!

 

[loupou]

My first baby was at Matilda and we lived in the NT, so when my contractions began, I went to stay at a friend's place on HK Island. DH drove (we had a car) and I ended up staying 2 nights at her house.

2nd baby we had a PWH and we took a cab there. No problem. If you're not shouting w/ contractions (or dripping amniotic fluid) how's the cabbie to know you're not just a very pregnant lady who's sighing a lot.

But, I have very long first stages...

If you "go into labor in the middle of the night", unless you have super-duper-quicky labors, you probably have a couple of hours between the first contraction and squeezing the baby out, so you could probaby get a kaido and taxi in time (if you live on Peng Chau or Lamma).

 

[shalom]

just want to share my cousin's experience with you. her baby is came one month early. her water broke at home and she took a cab to the hospital ( can't remember the name of the hospital but it's a government hospital). the cab driver didn't know the way and got lost and so they went round and round looking for the hospital and her contraction started to get really painful. she told me she practically screamed and shouted in the cab. they finally reached the hospital and the cab driver refused to accept any money for the trip. what a nice man. till now, she still find the experience hillarious.

 

[Slee]

While I'm writing this, the heavy monsoon signal, the thunderstorm warning and the landslip warning are all up - imagine getting into a sanpan in this weather in labour!!! Seriously, we had thought about the boat thing, and there is someone who operates a water taxi of sorts, but given that I dilated 9 cm in less than an hour with my first (whole labour actually took 21 hours, 20 for the first cm, 9 for for the last, five minutes pushing) I'd be more happy if I knew I could just get a helicopter or police launch ride. We're not trying to be freeloaders, after all, we're saving the HA a bomb by going private so surely they would be glad to just have to get us off the island.

I've heard of one mum getting a helicopter and insisting on being allowed to go to Matilda but another friend who was down for a private room at the Matilda ended up in a hospital in Kwung Tong - not very convenient from Lamma! If anybody has had or has heard of any experiences getting to a private hospital by ambulance I'd love to hear about it.