Is it really this expensive....

F

FishMama

Registered User
This is kinda just more a vent I guess. Have just paid my deposit for hospital (going private as don't like the look/sound of my local public one), so that's 20K, then to have pay additional to have a doctor do the delivery. So just called my OBGYN and that's going to be an additional 25-30K!!!! Is this normal. I knew having a baby wasn't going to be cheap, but is it really that much just to give birth? I wasn't expecting that at all.....
I'm a first timer here so this is all very new and very eye opening to me.
Anyone else shocked at how much this all is?
 
Unfortunately it is normal for HK. Dr fees are not included in the hospital packages. You may also want to ask your Dr who the anesthesiologist is he uses, as their fees are also not included. One more thing, Drs fees may increase depending on the hospital room. So if you decide to take a private room, be prepared the Drs fees can be in the $50k range.
 
Ums, it's been in the news and discussed on these threads so much, I wasn't surprised at the cost. I'm not sure how it compares to other countries though. The cost (and the uncertainty of that cost) is the big reason many choose to go public, and many of those that go private have insurance.

If you're finding the cost already steep, suggest you read through these threads to get a sense of how it will add up. Like, you'll have to pay separately for a pediatrician and an anesthesiologist if one is needed. And ask your hospital very clearly how much if you need an emergency c-section, which can happen even if you plan a natural birth. I'd rather have an inflated estimate and budget accordingly than stress over the ticking time bomb of the bill while giving birth.
 
Oh yes - private hospital experience is expensive and the deposit is only the beginning. 2 years ago my normal delivery at Matilda with epidural, 3 day stay in a shared room, cost around $90K and that is not including my antenatal visits with my doctor. It was $15K for the epidural (made up of anaethetist's fee plus Matilda's fee for the epidural (presumably the drugs and equipment used)) and $9K for my obs to visit me at the hospital once a day for 3 days! Can't remember how much the pediatrican charged for the daily visits to the baby 3 times while I was there.

If you end up having a c-section then can be a lot more (our friend's c-section with complications was over $300K!). So, definitely pays to check the prices and be prepared for the unexpected unless you have good insurance. We only had partial insurance cover and the uncertainty over cost was a bit of a stress.
 
you can end up paying anywhere from $50,000-250,000 for a private hospital delivery...

*just saw starbucks response saying can be even higher than $250,000!!!

so, if it is all coming out of your pocket, you may want to rethink it. $250,000 vs $500 at a public hospital.
for us, it came down to this: while the public hospital was ok, it wasn't fantastic. it was only a few days out of my life and for the amount that we saved, it was worth it for us. i know others will have a different take on it and think that $250,000 is worth it, too.
 
Yes, in Hong Kong this is normal. Even in the States, where I gave birth to my first child, unless you have insurance that covers it you can expect to pay at minimum 8-10K USD for a normal delivery (no c-section or extra interventions like induction, epidurals). I paid about 10K USD (77K HKD) for a normal vaginal birth with no interventions attended by a midwife inside of a hospital so I even skipped out on the physician fees.

I don't know what private hospital you're going to but my experience was that the private hospitals and doctors don't mean you're getting better care than a public one--there are exceptions but I was also registered for a private hospital birth and had paid a booking fee of $3,000 HKD (not the deposit) but in the end, I didn't give birth at the private hospital.

I gave birth at a public hospital and had a semi-private recovery room which ran me about $7,000 HKD. Money well spent. You can read my story here.

Giving birth in a hospital sure isn't cheap unless you go to a public hospital in Hong Kong.
 
Thanks all, more stuff to think about. I've already paid the deposit for private so no going back.... Just a little taken back by it all. Weave insurance so should get most of it back, barring any complications.. Maybe it's just coz I'm a first timer, but they really should tell you all of this up front in like a leaflet or something.... But hey ho,guess you don't think about this until your in it.
 
Unfortunately As with all things in life, even if these things "should" come listed in a neat little package like a leaflet, they often don't. One really needs to do some due diligence and you will find that if you do enough research (most hospitals will tell you what is and is not included in their package), and ask your Obgyn for their fees, and search the threads here, you will have gathered enough info to write your own little leaflet :)

That goes for maternity, buying a car, flat, anything else really. Caveat emptor!
 
just came home from matilda from a vaginal delivery with lucy lord of our cutie baby. here's the bill:
- private room: 47k
- lucy lord: 47k
- anesthesiologist: 14k
- epidurial drug: 6.6k
- pediatrist for 4 visits: 6.8k
- hearing check and other drugs: 2.5k
- ginger water: 1k
- food for hubby and miscellaneous: 1k

total: 125.9k

and i liked the cashier: "since you paid a deposit of 20k and a further deposit upon checkin of 20k, that's then ONLY 85.9k for you"

mind you, this was a normal, straight forward, no complications vaginal 3-day delivery.
 
Sounds about right matemate. I had a semi-private room instead and everything came out to just under 100k all inclusive for me at Matilda in October. Even if you know all the costs beforehand from reading this forum, seeing that bill when you check out is still enough to make you look twice!
 
Hi, me again! If you have good insurance then they usually have a separate category for "complications from childbirth" or the like. So in my policy, I got US$7K for normal childbirth and then a much higher/or possibly even unlimited for "complications from childbirth" which, in my policy, included an emergency c-section. So we were more comfortable that if we ended up with a HK$300,000 odd bill then we'd be covered from a different monetary cap. This might give you some comfort but do check your own policy to make sure that they have this separate category for emergency c-section.

Also, my policy covered the baby's costs separately from my US$7K maternity cover so her jabs and tests (plus photo therapy for jaundice) were covered under a different amount.
 
FishMama said:
Thanks all, more stuff to think about. I've already paid the deposit for private so no going back.... Just a little taken back by it all. Weave insurance so should get most of it back, barring any complications.. Maybe it's just coz I'm a first timer, but they really should tell you all of this up front in like a leaflet or something.... But hey ho,guess you don't think about this until your in it.
Click to expand...

You're really fortunate that you have insurance that covers maternity care...can you imagine paying out-of-pocket and not getting reimbursed?! We don't have insurance that covers maternity care and cannot afford to buy that type of insurance. You'll be fine.
 
Starbucks2, I would read the fine print very carefully. I have the best BUPA world wide coverage and I was under the impression that bubs is covered by a separate 'account' to the maternity one BUT I found out after my delivery that if the treatments were undertaken during the same admission as the birth then it all comes out of the maternity account!
 
Hi Mummymoo - I was with HSBC Insurance and baby's photo therapy was covered under her own cover even though it occurred within the 3 day stay for her delivery (which was under my maternity cover). But agree, all policies are different hence the warning to the OP to check her policy. That is a shame that yours didn't cover that. I really liked HSBC Insurance cover. Now my company is now covered with Allianz ...
 
To be fair, some Obs do provide a leaflet that breaks it all down for you, but they don't all do it, and one thing that many patients who are new to private healthcare miss is the fact that the hospital fee is just that- doesn't cover the Ob, the paediatrician or the anaethetist. I had my son at Matilda and I think we came in around HK$100k incl. the ante-natal care, but that was a straightforward VB (with epidural). My son's costs (the paed/ vaccs/ tests) etc were covered by his insurance (AXA through my husband's work)

Another thing re insurance is that often maternity is an "opt in" on work policies, so you choose to pay a bit more for that cover- it's not automatic.
 
I was covered by Allianz through my husband's company. They didn't quibble about anything - even though I went quite a bit over the supposed limit on maternity costs. They covered the baby's initial pediatrician costs on my coverage but then covered his stay in the SCBU (oxygen tent, pediatrician visits, hospital charges, phototherapy+ my charges for staying in the hospital longer to be his accompanying parent) under his own cover.
 
Mine were all born in the US, but it works the same way. Two-nights in the hospital (uncomplicated vaginal birth) is already close to US$10k, my doctor was under US$4k but close to US$6k the second time (twins). Anesthesiologist is separate as is your pediatrician. My first birth was completely covered (I think it was a about US$25-30k all together for the last 10 weeks of my pregnancy (no complications). The second time with twins it ended up being close to US$55k for an uncomplicated pregnancy, full term babies who went home with me 48 hours later. We paid US$2000 out of pocket (our annual deductible).
 
Wow! Thanks all slightly scared now.... Off to see OBGYN in a couple of hours for 12 week scan and tests so will ask LOTS of questions now.
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You can choose to go to a public hospital like Queen Mary and then it is all free. You can't bring your OBGYN but the health care is excellent.
 
no, it's not free at QMH.. they charge $100/day and $50 for admission. some of their tests are not free as well, but they are only a nominal charge.
 
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