Living in Oz, giving birth in HK

[stagsrubes]

Hi,

Thank you so much for Geobaby and for everyone's contribution, I have learned soooooo much!!!

We planned to start a family next year and I would love to have the baby in Hong Kong... (I am originially from HK, married a gorgeous aussie but living in Canberra).

I got these questions I need to clarify before planning!!!

Do you have to be PHYSICALLY in Hong Kong to register for child birth? I planned to spend the majority of my pregnancy in Oz (say, 32 weeks) due to hubby's and my work committments. Have you heard of any hospital accepting online registration? Would 32nd week be too late to register in a hospital?

And I suppose I could just get to an OB once I arrived in HK to do the final antenatal appointments? Is there any special pregnancy-related blood test that have to done specifically in HK? I read it in the Adventist HK (not Tsuen Wan) Obstetric Package that patient has to pay HK$40k extra if mandatory antenatal lab test is not done!!!???

Thank you in advance for all the advices... I would love to hear from mums that moved to HK late in their pregnancies!!!


Rubes

 

[thundacatchergo]

Why do you want to give birth in Hong Kong?

 

[0ze_Kid]

Why do you want to give birth in Hong Kong?

Probably because, as a HK mother it gives her child dual citizenship (after ticking other boxes).

Here is my lay understanding. If you are an perm resident then you should be able to book into a hospital and not pay the 'foreigners' fees which are REALLY high - then again they could just be for mothers from mainland... I would drop someone like Matilda an email or call and they will be able to help straight away.

I went over half way through my pregnancy so had an OB in Australia and in HK. I just kept all the records with me so that if anything happened all of them were on file. I also had a hospital in each location (again, just in case). My Australian OB was good and faxed me records and copies - it was painless.

I went back to Oz at 37 weeks (to give birth) and that was the most annoying thing as you are not allowed to fly past 36 weeks and everyone kept saying it would be hard and I would not be allowed on the plane (didn't happen, I filled in Qantas medical forms and had those signed before I left Australia and had my HK OB prepare a letter. Noone asked for any of it.). My advice - get an isle seat 'cause I didn't have one and got really annoyed at having to pee every hour!

Good luck with all.

 

[stagsrubes]

Hi 0ze_Kid and thundacatchergo,

Thanks so much for your replies!

Thundacatchergo, I want to give birth in HK because:
1. I will have access to more TCM ingredients than I would in Oz for postnatal care (I don't know whether I fully believe in all those soups & stuff... but just in case!)

2. I would feel more comfortable with mum & dad close by. But may be also because I want to mark HK on the baby somehow? I love the city (it's where I grew up) but the bud is going to grow up in Oz!

0ze_Kid, glad to know you didn't find the flying too hard... that's one thing I am worry about. I planned to fly at the latest at 32 weeks anyway.

I emailed Matilda (they are cool with an overseas OB for referral) and I am now waiting to see what QMH can offer.

As for registering online, do you know anyone that have done this? Would they let me register at a public hospital like QMH without being in HK (I could of course email them proof of pregnancy, ID card and stuff like that)?

Thanks again,
Rubes

 

[starbucks2]

Hi Rubes

I have not dealt with QMH but would suggest giving them a call to see if you can register online/over the phone with fax copies. Having had a few friends deliver there and have their antenatal checks there, I understand that they are very strict on appointments etc. From what I have heard, they are not very flexible about even changing appointment times from those which they allocate to you. My gut feeling is that they will only register you in person but happy to be proven wrong.

If you go private then you need to make a booking with the hospital as soon as you know you are pregnant - ie: 6 weeks along. Even then some people (including me) are only added to a waitlist! With Matilda and Adventist (and possibly other private hospitals) you need to pay a non-refundable deposit within a set time of receiving a confirmation (within a month for Matilda).

I travelled at 34 weeks in my first pregnancy and was fine on the plane but agree with the above about an aisle seat!

SB2

 

[nicolejoy]

You could always register at QMH at 32 weeks with your HKID card. You can even show up in labour and they have to admit you even if you haven't registered there since they're a public hospital. Ideally, they like you to do all their antenatal everything etc... but there are MANY people who get transferred there because of preterm labour or whatever and they never registered. I think registration is only really a big deal at the private hospitals.

 

[stagsrubes]

Hi SB2 and nicolejoy,

Thanks for the advices... good to know you can rock up at 32 weeks & register at QMH... that solves the logistics! I am considering Matilda, but gee the costs can really buy a lot of funky toys for the bub!

Does anyone know why HK have this 3-day normal delivery hospital stay for mum & bub? I read it somewhere in this forum that if you are insistence enough, you could get out within 24 hrs (health permitted)... is it true? I would love to hear from anyone that successfully escaped from the hospital within 24 hrs of giving birth!

Another question (as public patient in public hospital): can you ask to have the bub put on your tummy right after the delivery? And also, can you ask to be left alone with bub & dad for an hour of bonding before getting on with all the bathing/caring stuff? Research now shows that the 1st hr bonding is very important...
I assume that if you go private, you can ask for all of the above?!

Thanks again, again and again,
Rubes

 

[nicolejoy]

My baby was born at QMH and she was put on my tummy RIGHT after delivery - even before the placenta was delivered. But I have a friend who had her baby there a couple of weeks earlier and she wanted that, but they said no to her. It's really dependent on who the person in charge is at the time, I think... Although both me and that friend were able to breastfeed in the delivery room within 30 min or so of the birth. It was really nice to have that time. In our case, our baby had to go to the special care ward for monitoring right after - so I'm really grateful for that quality time right when she was born!!

For my next, I definitely want an early discharge! For my first, I wanted it as well - but I think because she had to be in special care for a day, they were less flexible... maybe I should have pushed for it more, I don't know. Nothing I can do to change it now anyway

 

[stagsrubes]

Well, that's the thing... mum is telling me that when it's your first, the midwives tend to be a bit more 'strict' (5-day stay for 1st born, 3-day for 2nd baby back in the 70s)... But hey, if bub needs to be in a special care - that's more important than mum going home early!

Glad to know you get BF time within 30mins... I think I can live without the baby being put on my tummy... but not without the 'bonding' time.

OK... now I only have to convince hubby that he will be more important to me in these first few days to bring me yummy street food than to bond with the bub before my HK childbirth plan can come true!!! He prefers the childbirth here in Oz as you pretty much get to take bub home right away, but I want the baby to have some HK 'legacy' and this will also mean no birth certificate that state 'born in Canberra'!!! LOL...

 

[nicolejoy]

You'll probably also need to be in Hong Kong for long enough afterward to get a passport back to Australia. That would be quickest probably if you get a HKSAR passport - but I don't know how long that would take... some places issue temporary passports as well... when my daughter was born, it took about 6 weeks to get her Australian passport, and we were trying to get everything done really quickly...

 

[LLL_Sarah]

If you want to have the baby delivered on to your tummy and want alone time with just you, your baby and your husband afterwards - write a birth plan and ask for it. I gave birth 22 years ago in Queen Mary and even then a birth plan went a long way and I got what I asked for. But if you don't ask then you'll only get the standard policy.

I am shocked that only about 10% of mothers write a birth plan and so don't have a say in what happens in hospital. One of my friends had 20 copies of her birth plan printed and gave a copy to everyone she met in the public system - so there could not be the excuse of them not knowing.

Generally I find that midwives want to give the mother what she asks for whether they agree with it or not. So it is worth making your views known. Also remember to add information about after the birth - rooming-in, breastfeeding on demand, etc. As if the hospital has issues with it you find out earlier rather than at the birth.

Good luck with everything,
SARAH

 

[lesliefu]

HKSAR does not allow one to hold dual passports...as a Canadian, I was unable to get a HKSAR myself, though I'm a permanent resident and have been living here for 25 years.

Getting a HKSAR passport is easy...you have to do the birth registration first, which takes a day (if you bring all the correct documents)

GovHK: Registration of a Birth

and then with that you can apply for a passport...if I recall correctly it takes about 2 weeks.

GovHK: HKSAR Passport

 

[stagsrubes]

Hi nicolejoy and lesliefu, thanks! Didn't think about the new kiddo will need travel doc!!! Leslie, I am an Australian citizen but also hold a HKSAR passport... may be it is the Canadian side that do not allow dual? I emailed HK Immig today about the Right of Abode and citizenship status for my future bubs... will post the response when I got it! I am worry about whether the bub will be consider as Chinese descent... (being half-Chinese)

Good to know it will take less than a month to get the baby's doco... I suppose I would not be going anywhere for the 1st month... I think we will worry about the Oz passport when we returned.

Hi LLL_Sarah, wow! Very, very glad to know a birth plan was taken seriously 22 years back!!!
We are definitely writing a birth plan and hubby swore that he will try his best to make sure it is adhere to... (bless him, I hope the midwives in QMH understand his aussie accents!) Part of me is worried that a birth plan will not be taken seriously, as the general perception of giving birth in HK (from this forum) is that HK is still a bit conservative (compares to the west) and thus I am worry about the midwives' & docs' altitude of 'we know what best for you'. But I am now much more confident and we shall be very, very insistent (and clear but polite) on getting what we want.

Thank you so much for all the advices... my dream is coming true!!!

 

[joyofliving]

Stagsrubes, people can have varying experiences at QM from the very best like Nicolejoy to totally horrid for someone like me. In my opinion if its a normal labour and baby & mommy are feeling great they will go along with your birthplan but there maybe situations where they will do as they please like in my case. Also depends on how busy they are on a particualr day and which nurses/ doctors are working on you. Moreover they don't discuss it with you but inform you what they are going to do, they went totally against my birth plan. Even after my daughter was born our experience was very unpleasant. You should do a search on Queen Mary on this forum to be more informed. For our second baby we'll be paying 100k+ from our pockets to go private but not going back to QM ever!!!

 

[nicolejoy]

Oh I wouldn't say that my experience was "the very best" - my labour and delivery weren't too bad... I liked how they did allow us some time in the delivery ward... but I DIDN'T like how they took the baby to special care for observation - in my opinion, it was unnecessary and just added to my stress and I don't think it was that beneficial for the baby... although IIIFFF there was a problem (maybe a 0.1% chance or something), I guess it would have been a good thing they were so cautious. They also fed the baby formula when I asked them not to. And I didn't have the most pleasant stay there either... But there was a good range of good and not so good...

 

[carang]

no, it's the HKSAR that doesn't allow dual nationality (to be perfectly correct, it is CHINA that doesn't allow it). there is no such thing as a HK NATIONAL, only china national. the HKSAR passport is for chinese citizens of hk with right of abode. if you DO have a second passport and are picked up in hk doing something illegal, your second passport is only viewed as a "travel document"... you would not be deported to your other country, because technically you are a citizen of hk. you would not be allowed consular assistance from your other country as again, you are a citizen of hk.

canada, on the other hand, recognises dual nationality (at least with certain other countries ie. UK)

 

[stagsrubes]

ooooooh noooooo! I think I am back to square one again... but thanks for the warning, geomum and nicolejoy! I can't help but think just having the baby here in Canberra is the easiest... but my desire is to give birth in HK where I was born... gee, already so irrational - not even pregnant!!!

I suppose my options now is to go private in HK or stay here in Oz. But does going private, say at Matilda, guarantee that they will respect and follow your wish?

I have read all the threads on QMH, PWH, QE, Adventist and Matilda before posting this thread... but different people have different experience and it's very hard to gauge what is likely to happen to us! But then I already got email replies from Matilda but not QMH yet... that's saying something?!

And carang, thanks for the info! I remember now reading somewhere on HK immi that only if you 'denounce' your Chinese nationality will they allow consular assistance from your other country. Hubby always insists that I enter HK with my Oz passport if we are going anywhere outside of HK (say Macau)... just in case my big mouth got me into trouble! But then, in hindsight, I suppose I won't be allow Oz consular help anyway if I got myself into trouble! LOL

 

[0ze_Kid]

I think you should keep at it. You have given yourself a lot of time to plan and organise. As OP said, if you prepare a birth plan and make it known I am sure that Matilda would come to the table. That said, if I was paying that much for "Hotel Matilda" they would da!@#m do what I wanted and the way I wanted.

I grew up in Canberra and met my husband at what is now called "Canberra Hospital" (Calvary). You have no real guarantees that they are going to do what you want either when crunch time comes about!

Heritage is an important thing in my book; and whilst I never considered myself a religious person. I strongly believe that my kids should have some of their European heritage and had a big fight on my hands to try and convince my DH to come to the table and let my DD's be christened (trying to explain it is a right of passage only gets you so far). Eventually he did and I am glad that they have that small part of their heritage with them. It also means they will have dual citizenship (but that in itself is taking years to sort out).

 

[stagsrubes]

Hi 0ze_Kid, thanks for the encouragement! How nice to know someone from Canberra! If I give birth in Canberra, I would do it in the Canberra Birth Centre (midwives run, natural birth focused)... though there is no guarantee I will get on the list! What's more, I just found out I am not eligible for those expats' insurance... (min 3mths in HK or 75% time out of Oz)... so I really have to fork out the full sum at Matilda or going public in HK (hubby not too keen to go public).

Glad to hear that your hubby is on board with the kids having both side of the heritage... we are lucky in the religion side, both families are Christian. We bought a few books on how to bring up a bilingual child, however, even though hubby is very keen & supportive... I just don't know how much Cantonese our kids will speak (let alone write!!!) - all my cousins overseas are pretty bad in their mother's tongue... sometimes I wish we are living in HK, there is no way the kids aren't going to be at least bilingual!

Hope you have a great weekend, and thanks again for the chat!

 

[nicolejoy]

I think it is often easier to have bilingual kids if the primary care giver (most cases, the mother) is bilingual. I'm white, my hubby is Chinese. I only speak English to our daughter - every now and then, I'll say a phrase or two in Cantonese, but I don't really "communicate" with her in canto... Hubby gets home from work tired and now his native language is more English. It's more of a conscious effort for him to use Cantonese at home... he speaks Canto to our daughter maybe once or twice a week I don't know how bilingual she will end up being... there are other people that talk to her in Chinese... Chinese friends and family... but she probably hears about 90% English and only 10% Cantonese... if I was the one who was bilingual, it'd be easier to get that to around 50-50...

Oh and about your poll, I voted "give them a Chinese name"... it was important to us - and I really like her Chinese name. It matches her English name. Her name is Lana, and Chinese name is Si-Lan (sorry, I don't know how to type Chinese). All our Chinese friends call her Lan-Lan (orchid). Maybe for some people that's too "matchy-matchy", but I like how it fits together, but it's still somewhat different too...