Mixed feedback on hospitals - any advice!!

S

stepheninhk

Registered User
My wife is now 9.5 weeks pregnant and we had our 1st ultrascan at a private dr at 5.5 weeks.

However now we have to register at a hospital for the pre-natel and delivery

We live on HK Island in Kennedy Town and some of my friends say that the best public hospital on HK Island is in Chai Wan (Pamela Youth) for all and not to go to QMH as they have a lot of students there and you cannot guarantee who you get.

Then my other friends say not to go public and if you can afford it go private (but we dont have any medical insurance for this) as now all public hospitals are getting full with pregnany women from mainland china and therefore you may not get a bed and end up sleeping in the corridor on fold out beds. Also ive heard that they try to get you out quick and cut you mor than necessary during delivery to get the baby out quicker.

Also they say its better to register in both a private & public hospital to get the best of both worlds as if you have complicationsx during the delivery the public hospitals are best equipped for any problems.

With going private they say that you have to choose a dr and then find a hospital to go to where he works!!

I am really interested in people experiences in using Pamela Youth in Chai Wan and Tsun Yuk/QMH or going the private route-

Which one is the best way for us to go - please help us as were really confused right now and dont want to be stuck with some unexperienced dr or sleeping in the corridor.

Thanks very much :thanks
 
private

Hi,

I know nothing about the public route- so can't help you there!
I saw a private obstetrican during my pregnancy and then chose to deliver at the Matilda. However my insurance paid for all of it- the cost otherwise is pretty astronomical....you are looking at approx. $100,000 for delivery, stay in hospital, pedietrician, anaesethic etc. alone plus approx. $1,000+ per obstetrician.

However it was fantastic being able to choose my own doctor, not having to wait for hrs to see him, and having as much time as I needed to ask questions, see him etc. It also meant I could call him any time of the day (or night) with any concerns/worries etc. I was also able to have ultrasounds as and when I wanted/needed them and all diagnostic tests/ultrasounds etc.

My experience at the Matilda was fantastic- the service, nurses, care, help etc. was second to none and it was a great experience (something I especially treasure and appreciate as this was my first baby.)

For me, with a second baby, I would do it private all the way....but like I said I am fortunate to have insurance that will pay for it; am not sure what we would do if we had to pay for it ourself!
 
First and foremost is to decide if you are going to go public or private (or a combination). As said, 100k all-in is a generous estimate of a private delivery + pre-natal (My last at the Advetist was about 75k). If you can afford it, do it. And then, yes, you'll choose your doctor at the same time as considering which hospitals s/he is affiliated with. Some private hospitals such as St Paul's have pretty good deals and you can budget for less, but you get what you pay for.

If you choose to go public and you are a HK resident, you are guaranteed a bed. There's always the faint possibility you'll be in the corridor, but unlikely. I have had extended stays at public hospitals including Pamela Youde for reasons other than maternity and the level of service/comfort leaves a lot to be desired IMO. But, you get excellent medical care for peanuts.

If you registered at a private hospital and then needed to be rushed to QMH to deal with complications, the fact that you had not made a booking would not mean they'd turn you away.

HTH
 
My personal view on the hospitals in Hong Kong is that if you can afford the Matilda go there. The doctors and nurses who work there are very much into pleasing the patients. So if it is safe you will be allowed to do it. It is also the most baby friendly hospital for breastfeeding (although if you want to breastfeed I would recommend finding out about it before you have the baby and not relying solely on the medical staff.)

If the Matilda is too expensive (and it cost me $175,000 for my last baby there) then I would recommend any of the government hospitals. The policies in the government hospitals are very similar. They all expect you to look after your baby as soon as you are able to. This means that you actually get to know your baby before you go home. Many of the private hospitals only allow restricted access to the baby, even for the mother. This can have a devastating effect if you are trying to breastfeed but even if you aren?t it interrupts the early bonding.

My view about having students is that you get two for the price of one. I had my third child in England and was asked if a student midwife could deliver me. I said yes and this meant that I had two midwives, the student plus a trained one supervising her.

One reason that people sometimes give for going public is that if there is anything wrong during the birth the hospital has a NICU. This is true but unlikely to be necessary and if your baby did need such care because Hong Kong is such a small place any private hospital would be able to transfer the baby quickly.

I had my first baby in Queen Mary and was happy with the care but not thrilled. I had my second in Matilda because we had partial insurance by that time and because the public hospital didn?t allow siblings to visit. My third was in England on the NHS in a small maternity unit which was great but because of cut backs this unit has now closed. And my last baby was born in Matilda with full insurance. I was very happy about this birth despite the fact it was a real emergency and my baby ended up in the special care unit. The medical care was second to none and I was able to be with my baby once she was allowed to move to the paediatric ward, something that wouldn?t have happened if I?d been in the public system.

Best wishes with your choice,
Barb
 
If you don't have insurance, you can rest assured that the public system is fine.
I delivered at QMH last year and they were great. You didn't get all the frills and nice things you get at a private hospital, but the medical care was 1st rate.

I chose to pay for a private obstetrician for my prenatal care to avoid the hassle of the public system for checkups.
 
I vote for Queen Mary as I had my first child born there recently (late Dec). It is the best in the public system (heard from many frens who are nurses as well as mummy frens), and it offers full range of antenatal classes (such as physio and breathing) as well as postnatal care and classes (baby check up, breastfeeding support and follow-up).

I signed up for QMH high-risk group and delivered there with the support of very experienced midwifes and professional-grade doctors. One of the doctors in one consultation session even asked me to consider using epidural because that i may want to save energy for the final "push". Can you imagine that in today's public system there are still doctors who care more about the patient than the hospital's budget? I did apply epi (as well as induction) during my labor and only had to pay hkd400 for 3 days.

The only thing you need to bear with QMH are:
- different doctors attending you throughout all consultation sessions, and you cannot pick your favorite doctor to have attend your delivery. they all work on shifts.
- long waiting time to your antenatal visits, and you are more treated like a number rather than a "customer". sometimes if you want more personal touch you just have to break a joke or ask something more "special". Remember the hospital staff are also normal people under long working hours and high pressure... help yourself by help making their work interesting.
 
i delivered both of my children in QMH. the last one was only 3 weeks ago.

The nurses, altough way overworked are fantastic! Very friendly. i was also part of the high risk team. i saw the same 4 drs throughout my entire problem plagued pregnancy. two of the drs that i had seen throughout delivered my daughter by scheduled c-section.

they were FANTASTIC!!!!

the only thing is, it is COMPLETELY NO FRILLS! if you or your wife need the frills, go private!
 
thanks for all your advice, paying 100,000 - 175,000 is a lot of money.

Anyone have any experience with Pamela Youth in Chai Wan??
 
One of my very good friends had her last two children there (she?s since moved back to live in Canada). She found the experience OK. It is very similar to the Queen Mary ? both are huge public hospitals and there isn?t really much to choose between them.

Usually you just go to your nearest public hospital.

I know a number of mothers from DB who have gone to both Queen Mary and Pamela Youde and one who went to Princess Margaret (because it was the closest and the ambulance drivers didn't think she'd make Queen Mary even though she was booked there!)
 
urh... just confused.. correct me if i am wrong - thought if you choose public you HAVE to go to the nearest hospital from your home? ie. if you live in Kenndy Town then definitely TYH/QMH?
 
if you do go public, buy your wife an IPOD video. it was fantastic to have for all of the appts plus for my time in hospital.

sorry, no experience with PAMELA YOUDE....
 
my local work colleagues said that i can book in at PYH if i like as sh called them, so i guess i could. my only real concern at QMH is that it has a lot of students - isnt this a cause for concern?

now i read that queen elizabeth is also meant to be quite good!!
 
thanks Rani, good to know
Stepheninhk, yes I saw student doctors all the time during my consultations, but they were only sitting beside the Consultant/Professor learning and not doing things directly. I do not mind having them in my consultation sessions because when the Consultant/Professor explains to them in my presence, I also got to learn something possibly new. In the contrary, I like those students.
 
I would recommend a Archos rather than an ipod.
The one I have is model 504, http://www.archos.com/products/video/archos_504/index.html?country=global&lang=en
but I see they have a new one as well.

I like this better than an ipod becasue you can record directly from the TV, Cable, now, DVDs and videos, etc. as well as music, podcasts, downloads from the computer and pictures. Also you can play it back on a TV if you want.

Mine has 30 Gbytes and I have all my breastfeeding information on it which means I can show a mother I'm visiting, all my personally stuff, Jolly Phonics for my daughter to watch whenI want her to be quite while we are out, and loads of episodes of CSI which I watch going to work.
 
I had a student midwive for my first delivery in the UK. I was asked first whether I minded and said that I didn't. If you have a student they often have more time for you since they are very new to the job and are trying to learn as much as possible. You also always have the back up of the trained professionals as well, so 'two for the price of one'.

Once my son was born I had tremendous problems trying to get him to latch on to breastfeed. The qualified midwives tried everything and nothing seemed to work. Then a student midwife took some time with me and with her calm, gentle approach he started to feed.

I would always say yes to a student. Another plus, as they are currently studying they often have the most up-to-date knowledge available too. They are not set in their ways by years of experience and from my own experience seem to have more time for the patients.

Good luck with wherever you choose.
 
Hi StepheninHK

I had my son at QMH - great staff; very understanding and sympathetic. One of my girlfriends had her second at PY. In both cases, good service but definitely NO FRILLS. Didn't mind. I chose QMH because of their reputation for having really good pediatricians and attending doctors / midwives in the delivery room / maternity ward. If you want to splurge, go for the private or semi-private rooms instead of the general rooming (6-8 new Moms in one place).
 
I gave birth to my first at Pamela Youde last September - everything was to my satisfaction. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to go public.

I had my regular check ups at private OB and decided to go public when I was 30 weeks, to save money as I had a pretty strong feeling that I might need a C-section since baby is quite big (my insurance does not cover pregnancy and my OB charges A LOT for c-section).

Of course, you can't expect as much attention and 'service' as you would get from private facilities but to me the most important was a safe delivery at minimal costs so it didn't matter to me.

I am not a very demanding person and I have heard a lot of stories about how bad public facilities are so I had little expectations when I checked in to Pamela Youde. Therefore it was a nice surprise for me, to have such a pleasant and uneventful experience. Which might explain why I'm being so positive about most things that people don't like about public hospitals:

no private ward - I was in a ward with 6 mum-to-be. It was my first and I did not know what to expect, so it was comforting to have someone in exact same situations to talk to. I received a lot of encouragement from other women.

baby deliver by nurses not doctors - the nurses deliver probably 10 babies a day, 5 days a week, for the last 10 years, they can be more experienced than OBs in private practice. Besides, there are many doctors standing by in case of emergency while when you go private, you only have 1 doctor and imagine if your doctor is delivering another baby (or on vacation like mine!)

no privacy - that's right, absolutely no privacy. I breastfed my baby in same room with 20 other mums, but who cares?

inexperienced doctors - that I'm not sure... I did not dialate after trying everything and waiting for 12 hours so the doctor decided to give me a c-section (after I begged her to give me one. I suspect the nurses were also a bit fed up with me pushing the call button every 15 minutes). The doctor was young, in her 30's but seemed to know what she was doing. It was a quick procedure, I got to kiss and hold the baby when he's out. My husband was there holding my hand the whole time. I also healed fast, only needed painkillers 2 days.

husband - my hubby got to stay with me since they rolled me to the delivery room and throughout the c-section procedure.

mainland women - boy, there were many of them, and it does create a lot of work load for the helpers and nurses. Do expect to meet some very frustrated and irritated staff. But they are just human, I'm sure there are frustrate and irritated staff just the same at private hospitals.

complications - I was in a ward with a mum who had an emergency c-section. she was thankful that she went for public facilities as she believed with her condition, the private hospitals might have to send her to public ones anyways. The hospital kept both the mum and baby for over 2 weeks for tests and observation... imagine the bill had it been in private hospital. Money aside, the nurses were really compassionate, and they were very caring and nice to that mum.

visiting hours - yes, you can only visit the mum and the baby in certain hours but to be honest, the mum would be so busy feeding the baby, she has little time to see you or family and friends. Anyways, the mum can meet visitors OUTSIDE the ward anytime.

Overall, considering the fact that I only paid $660 for 6-day stay and the c-section, it was a wonderful experience. I am thankful that my baby and I were well taken care of at Pamela Youde.

:thanks
 
Many Thanks for all your posts, its nice to hear all your views and it has definately helped.

Well we have decided to register and tsuk yuk with the delivery in QMH, we are going on march 10th for our registration!!

We will take our ipod!!

Thanks again

Stephen & Yoshiko
 
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