Last minute C-sections at the Matilda

A

aussiegal

Registered User
I had a last minute c-section at the Matilda and am curious how many other people went through the same thing? By last minute i mean that I went to my ob a few days before my due date and was informed that my baby was now lying transverse and he recommended a c-section the next day. At the time I was in quite a bit of shock, one afternoon to process this and prepare is not a lot of time. Now in hindsight and having spoken to a few people who have had similar things happen to them I am suspicious that my Obs wasn't telling the truth. I had no confirmed booking at the Matilda and tend to think it was his way of getting me a bed.... I could be wrong but maybe I'm not. There's not anything I can do about it but pregnant 3rd time round it's something I'd like to avoid.
He was so quick with the ultrasound that I didn't even have time to see the baby. It all just seems so dodgy.

Has this happened to anyone else?
 
Hi- I have had two c-sections in HK, and I'm pretty sure that had I had my babies elsewhere they would have been normal delivery, or at least I would have been made to attempt normal delivery.

My ob makes no bones about the fact that he thinks c-sections are safer, something I knew when I started seeing him and something I accepted.

My ob believes that one reason why obs in HK, in private hospitals are so quick to suggest a c-section is because private hospitals don't have the doctors and facilities should something suddenly go wrong during a normal delivery- so they opt for c-sections.

With my 2nd baby I went to a doctors appointment, had semi regular contractions and four hours later my daughter was born by c-section!
I know of that happening to several people recently.

Not sure how to avoid it, unless you can find an ob who has never done this. Not sure if that will be possible in HK but I may be wrong.
 
aussiegal - knowing your ob i really doubt that he would be that deceiptful.
at the end of the day it is your responsibility to feel comfortable with the suggestions your doc makes. maybe next time be sure to look at the ultrasound too and ask lots of questions.
you could be right. but either way you just need to learn from your previous experience and make sure that next time you are well informed and assess all your options properly.
if your baby was indeed transverse he would definitely have wanted to do a c-section before you went into labour naturally as there is a high risk of a prolapse and you deliver the umbilical cord first. this has all sorts of complications!
 
Well my new obs was very surprised that a c-section had been the outcome of my second delivery given the history of my first and the fact that my second had been in the perfect position right up until that last meeting. I've also met first hand 2 other people who claim the very same thing happened to them, not necessarily with that doc but at the Matilda. I don't think anything is impossible when it is now common knoweldge how difficult it is to get a bed at the Matilda. I was just told by my doc that if you have not registered by 6 weeks they will not book you.
 
This a abit of a sore topic with us too. I had a emergency csect at Mathilda reason was the baby did not engage.

The dodgy part was the doctor only mention that the baby has not engage on our very last appointment. I think she could have mentioned it much much earlier so we were mentally prepared. The week before the baby was due all we could think about was the possible csect, is the doc telling the truth (after all we were warned that HK docs like to perform csects), should we get 2nd opinion etc.

We just felt we we had no control over the situation. We trust our doctor for her expert opinion and if she says the baby has not engage and need csect we don't seem to have much of a choice.
 
I think ultimately you have to trust your doctor. I was told, with both my pregnancies that I needed c-sections for medical reasons. My doctor is the one with the experience and the medical training- I have to trust him.

And at the end of the day my babies were born safe and well, and that for me was all that mattered.

As for beds at the Matilda- the situation is just crazy. I know a well known HK ob who complained to the Matilda that he had patients coming from a country very close to HK who he was sure were lying about their due dates to gurantee beds at the Matilda. He said the dates they gave him didn't match with the dates he got from ultrasounds etc.
 
bekyboo44 said:
IAs for beds at the Matilda- the situation is just crazy. I know a well known HK ob who complained to the Matilda that he had patients coming from a country very close to HK who he was sure were lying about their due dates to gurantee beds at the Matilda. He said the dates they gave him didn't match with the dates he got from ultrasounds etc.
Click to expand...

How would that work? It gets you a reservation after the birth. We had a reservation at Matilda but, on THE day, we were told we would be turned away if we showed up in the morning, same story just after lunch, but in the hospital in the late afternoon.
The reservation system doesn't guarantee you a space if you are early/late. It just opens the possibility, I guess.
And doesn't the ob have to verify the dates or does he just go along with the charade??
 
Women were telling the doctor they were less along than they actually were- so 6 weeks pregnant when they were actually 10 weeks pregnant.

Wether it actually got them beds or not he was convinced they were doing it- as to wether he went along with it or not, I'm not sure, I only know he complained to the Matilda about it. And said they had to have a system in place to ensure HK residents got priority for beds.
 
I'd agree that high demand at the Matilda (and probably other HK hospitals) ends up raising their c-section rates - in more ways than one.
Even after being admitted for a natural birth at the Matilda, everyone is aware that there is only a very limited number of delivery rooms (I think only 2), so doctors and midwives are unlikely to want you to labor in there for ages while they know others are waiting! My own experience, as well as that of others I know, is that the docs end up doing unnecessary interventions to speed up labor, which in turn raises the likelihood of complications, and therefore also of emergency c-sections.
 
Just wanted to give a positive responce.

I changed ob at 20 weeks, had a confirmed bed at 26 weeks, booked c section at 38 weeks which was cancelled as baby turned, and a 25 hour labour (12) in the delivery room no unnecessary interventions.

This was just a month ago. I never felt any pressure to do something I was not happy with. I can recommend my ob, Grace Cheung, Central Health.
 
hi,

i just gave birth at the matilda and have to second Shoni!

i booked at 13 weeks, was confirmed at around 34 weeks and laboured and delivered normally (without any pressure). in fact the two midwives attending to me actually delivered my little one (Anne and Fina) and i can not recommend them or the matilda highly enough.

they have four delivery rooms but like all private hospitals and the nature of labour, they can only accomodate if one is free. that being said, my initial obs had ben pracitcing in HK for 15-20 years and never had a patient refused at the Matilda.

the night I was there they were at maximium capacity - not that i knew until the next day :-)

hope this helps. trace
 
Matilda Hospital

hi

I dont think ob here will just recomend c-section unless its really necessary.

I just return to HK last month and I went to 6 ob. None of them could get me a hospital bed till last week. I am already 28 weeks and I am now being booked at Matilda for a c-section in Nov.
 
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