Homebirths

A

Aquarian

Registered User
Are these possible in hk? It will be my first baby but DH and I would love to be able to have it at home.
 
I had one two years ago and am planning another in a few months. It isn't easy or cheap as I flew my midwife in, found a flat for her etc but it was the only way I would ever do it. You need to take a couple extra bits of paperwork to get the birth certificate (Ultrasound report, doctor letter saying you were pregnant, photos of you pregnant and in labour, a pic of the placenta attached to the baby) and everyone present has to swear an affidavit. Immigration came to my house to take pictures and also went to see my doctor. It was a long process but not a big deal if you know what to expect. There is one midwife here who will do some homebirths but I don't think she does first time moms.
 
Good lord! They don't make it easy do they? I assume it's something to do with the mainland mother problem.
 
It's nothing to do with the mainland mothers, it's basically because they are not set up to support homebirth unlike say the UK or Sweden and they don't want to be; the system is that you are supposed to have your baby in a hospital. In the same way, there are no birthing centres. Birth is seen as a medical process. Which means that options for an alternative are seen as 'outside the rules' although not strictly illegal.

So you have to work very hard if you want to do something different. It is possible, but I'd suggest think about why you want to have a homebirth, research what's needed to do this and all the alternatives and decide from there the best course for you. BTW I totally support homebirth and cannot believe how limited the birthing options are in HK but if you are already pregnant you need to do the research asap so that some options are not ruled out eg certain private hospitals in case you decide on balance that's the best choice for you once you have all the info. Lots of help on this site- good luck!
 
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