Government hospital for childbirth

C

carolechan

New member
hi, i am planning to give birth in this autumn in hk government hospital. can anyone share their experience and comments to ease my decision. about PWH, QEH etc. thanks much a lot! :flower:
 
I just found out you have to go to the govt hospital that's in the zone of your residential address. I wanted to register for prenatal checkup today at Eastern Hospital and was told of this new way of assigning patients.
 
Zoning by address is not a 'new' policy - it's been in place for at least five years, and is states clearly on the websites of both the Hospital Authority, and of the iindividual hospitals.
 
Hmm... I have a friend who lives in the same area but is delivering in a public hospital on HK island.. I wonder how she got to do that....
 
Elaine.

I just called the Hospital to try and register and they told me that I can only register if I live on HK Island or one of the Outlying Islands. Are you in Kowloon?

Rani
 
I'm still finding my way around the government hospitals too. I live in Clearwater Bay and went to Tsan Yuk on Hong Kong Island for my first check up. They didn't say anything to me about living too far away. In the end I decided it was too inconvenient and have registered at Tseung Kwan O and will deliver at United Christian Hospital. Problem is they have no antinatal classes in English. Also, I don't know anyone who has been there and would feel reassured if anyone has any info on UCH??
 
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I'll be registering at United Christian Hospital as well coz I live in Tseung Kwan O. It's too bad that UCH does not accept registration by phone... I work on HK island east so a more convenient option for me is actually Eastern Hospital. Anyway, I'm told that that they need to see supporting document such as an utlity bill as a prove of address.. arrghh... it's too much trouble I think.

No antenatal classes in english - gosh.. looks like we have to look elsewhere.. I also do not know anyone who has been to UCH.. so I'm also a little concerned.
 
prince of wales has antenatal exercise classes in English that I went to.

I watched an antenatal DVD at home which was fine. Didnt matter though, when it came time to give birth i ended up forgetting some of it.

I gave birth on Dec. 27 which was a very busy day. My labour was 30 hours. It's the luck of the draw at public hospitals. Because it was busy i never got an epidural which I wanted. I had to wait and wait for a birthing room to open. I didnt want gas and put it on my request, but i ended up taking it because i needed something!

I chose a public hospital because i have had a few surgeries and admissions for various other things and had excellent care. I will be honest and say that giving birth there is not for you if you intend to be pampered. The nursing care afterwards was fantastic.
 
I live in Kowloon and delivered my first baby in QM. I just went to Tsan Yuk and registered there with my own address. They didn't say I couldn't register with a kowloon address. One doctor asked why I chose Tsan Yuk, I said it was recommended to me. He didn't say anything.

Last year I decided to register at UCH because it is closer to where I live. And many of my friends delivered there. I thought all public hospitals should have the same level of english among the staff. I was shocked though, the nurse I met at my first appointment couldn't speak a word of english and was struggling to get my case history which she was typing in english on the computer !! Then she told me they don't have english antenatal classes either ! Anyway I didn't get to go for any more appointments because I miscarried but I'm not really sure I want to go back there !

This was my own experience in UCH but my friends I spoke to, had good things to say about the level of care etc. Said they had communication problems at some appointments but mostly met someone who could speak english. A friend who recently delivered there couldn't have her husband with her because they didn't attend the antenatal classes since they don't understand cantonese.

I'm thinking the next time maybe Queen Elizabeth - they have english antenatal classes and it is in Kowloon.
 
Hi scr,

Thanks for letting me know your experiences. When I had my first check up at Tseung Kwan O, the Drs were great, very thorough and spoke good English. I was worried about the level of English at UCH so my husband and I went to check it out. Although we could not see the wards, I spoke to a couple of nurses who were very helpful and spoke English well. They did say that if my husband wanted to attend the delivery we would have to go to two of the antenatal classes in Cantonese....they didn't seem to mind we would not be able to understand a word!

Elaine,

Let me know if you need info on antenatal classes as I have been looking into it.
 
I just delievered at QE. The doctors and mid-wives are extremely efficient, supportive and speak excellent English. Since I was way overdue, I had to be induced I am grateful that they waited patiently and encouraged me to have a normal delivery, coz at one point I asked them if I could go in for a C-Sec as I was getting frustrated and also worried about the well-being of the baby.

The only disadvantages are the waiting time for your prenatal check-ups can be long and the obstetrics ward is a little bit daunting with crying babies and very frazzled nurses who tend to come across as impatient but I think they just have a lot on their hands. But having said that, it forces you take charge of your baby and because you have to manage on your own you learn quickly. Also, I must mention that their lactation consultants are really helpful and friendly.

If you need any more information on QE feel free to message me.
 
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