Moving to HK in 2 weeks - 21 weeks pregnant, need hospital advice!

D

DonnaDE

Registered User
Hi everyone,

I'm moving to HK in 2 weeks time on a work visa, and I'll be 21 weeks pregnant at the time with my first baby. I have been looking at hospital websites and I honestly don't know where to start!

The first question is public or private? I don't know where I'll be living yet, and I won't know until I arrive and actually look at apartments, so I've been leaning more towards private. I'm fully covered with BUPA up to a total maternity package of 10,000 UK pounds, which is pretty good, but I notice the prices on some private hospital websites are a substantial amount more expensive for non-HK residents. As someone residing in HK on a work visa and with an ID card, would I fall into the category of HK resident, or is that only for permanent residents?

On the other hand, I really dislike the 'business' side of private hospitals and would never ever use a private hospital in my home country, and from the reading I've done it seems the level of medical expertise is much higher in public hospitals. And I also read that you must go to the hospital nearest to where you live?

I really feel lost at the moment, so any advice to a complete HK newbie would be greatly greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Donna
 
At 21 weeks pregnant I dont think you'd be able to get a space in a private hospital. As I understand it you need to be booked in pretty much as soon as sperm hits egg.
 
Is this still the case now that mainland Chinese mothers are no longer allowed to give birth in HK? I thought that would have relieved some of the pressure on private hospitals?
 
Hi DonnaDE,
Have you got a doctor in mind? If your set towards private, then you can always give it a try. It's probably worth making few calls and see what they say.
Good luck!
 
They're allowed to give birth here but they're not allowed to use the public system. So I *think* that's actually putting more pressure on the private hospitals, but I could be wrong - someone else might know better.
 
Much reduced mainland mothers, both public and private this year, so you should be able to get in private. I understand that the private slots are per obstetrician though, so if you choose a popular one and his slots are all full, for your due date, you will need to search again.
 
Aquarian - That's not quite right. Mainland moms were barred from public hospitals quite some time ago. The private hospital ban came later. The OP can probably still book now. It's much more relaxed and civilized now.
 
Hi Donna,
Welcome to HK! Hope this answers all your questions.

1. Coverage of 10,000 pounds = 120,000 HKD, which should more or less cover it, with your paying just a small part. I had a complex delivery -- 5 nights in private hospital in private room -- and it came to 140,000 HKD. If you have that benefit, I'd probably take advantage.

2. If you're living here w/ a HKID and work visa, you are a HK resident. You are not a permenant resident, meaning you can;t vote in local elections, but you are a HK resident in terms of hospital care.

3. I'd let go of any PC preconceptions about public vs. private, as you are dealing w/ entirely different cultural and political realities here. I always used public schools and hospitals in my native Canada, and would encourage my children to do the same if we lived there. But we don't. And if private health care and education are right for you in HK, then go with it. Same with the hiring of a "helper." My friends in the West look down their noses at me for having a helper -- but the HK reality is that it's the most affordable, convenient solution for a working mom.

4. HK has excellent health care, public and private. We have some of the best infant / maternal health statistics in the world. The big difference is that the neo-natal intensive care units (NICU) are in the public hospitals, which tend to be big teaching hospitals. In the grand majority of cases, private hospitals can take care of your delivery. In the rare case -- god forbid -- of an emergency like a car crash, very early labor, etc, you will be automatically shipped to public.

5. If you go public, you have to go to the hospital in your cachement area. If you go private, you can go anywhere you like.

Hope that helps!
 
Here are the big differences delivering public vs. private

Public pros
* Free or almost free
* They must serve you if you are a legal resident, even if you pop in at the last minute (though this is not recommended). But no booking headaches. They are not allowed to "run out of space."
* Big hospitals with neo-natal intensive care units, in case something goes wrong.

Private pros
* You get to choose your doctor. This was important to me, as I love my ob/gyn, who has followed me through 2 pregnancies. At public, you get who-ever is on rotation -- it could be a total stranger, young intern, etc.
* Generally more comfortable. You're paying for privacy, a more pleasant atmosphere, more attentive nursing care, a midwife who comes by to help you breastfeeding, better food, etc. Public system is safe, but barebones. You might be in a big ward / shared bathroom w/ a bunch of other moms. There won't be tons of extra staff on hand to help you w/ childcare, getting a drink of water, etc. Those nurses are busy!
* Choice of pain relief. At a private hospital, I opted for a "walking epidural" and had an attentive anaesthesiologist at my side ASAP. (I did pay for him, though) In public, it's first come, first serve -- w/ priority given to emergency cases. So, unless you are at risk, you might not get the pain relief you want, or when you want it.

If it makes you feel better, you'll be fine either way. But if you want private, I'd book pretty soon, even if from overseas.
 
Hi Gracey,

That's super super helpful, thanks a lot! I sent out some speculative emails yesterday as well - had a reply from St Teresa's and they are definitely not full, so I know there's at least one option available for going private! Next step arrive and get my HKID card, then I can start making appointments with OB-GYNs.

Thanks again,
Donna
 
I don't know St. Teresa's.
I delivered at Baptist, which is also on Kowloon side, and it was good.
Rich expat moms tend to choose Matilda (though v. expensive and boutique-y).
Sanatorium is also excellent.
 
Sanatorium is the one that stood out for me - Matilda seemed waaaayyyy to extravagant for me!! But to be honest, if the hospitals being busy is an issue I'll take what I can get! Thanks again :)
 
Another thing to be aware of is whether you want to breastfeed, as some private hospitals have practices that make it very difficult. St Teresa's is one of those hospitals. I met a midwife who worked there recently and she said you can't have the baby with you unless you have a private room (not guaranteed as depends on who else wants one) and have to put baby in the nursery and can only feed at set times every 4 hours eg 8am, 12pm etc and you have to go to the nursery to do it, so if for some reason you can t walk (say after a Caesarian) then you can't breastfeed, they won't even let the dad bring the baby to you! May not be an issue for you, but so different from the UK thought I'd better make you aware of it. Likewise overall Caesarian rate pretty high here, so if you have a preference to avoid one, make sure you ask your ob what their rate is if you decide to go private. Many of them have rates of 75% or higher. Not an issue in the public system unless you want a Caesar which is not possible without a medical reason, ie like the UK you can't just decide you want one! Hope this is useful, if you do a search you can find more information on both these issues.
 
Wow, 75% C-section rates, that's insane!! Well, definitely will be asking a lot of questions when I arrive - thanks for the heads up though as I definitely want to breast feed and I definitely don't want a C-section. I'm considering going the public route as a private patient and perhaps using Annerley's Best of Both package (if BUPA cover it) - I'm going to call Annerley when I arrive in HK and arrange a consultation with them to sit down and discuss all my options. Do you know what the breastfeeding policy is in the public system? Also, do you know if can you keep your baby with you in the public system?
 
I had my son in a public hospital and I was allowed to keep him with me the whole time. So I breastfed on demand. Staff werent happy about it, they prefered to keep babies in the nursery apart from feeding times and visiting hours, but they let me have him. They thought I was weird though.
 
About the c-section rate, a lot of Hong Kong women seem to prefer a c-section. So I don't think the 75% rate can be attributed entirely to the doctors. I saw three ob/gyns over 2 pregnancies and all respected my preference to not have a c-sec unless necessary. In the public system, you can be absolutely sure that their policy is pro-standard-vaginal-delivery and pro-breastfeeding. However, if there are complications, like in my case breech position, or having earlier had a c-sec, they will lay out the possibilities and ask you to choose. I assume private-in-public-hospital would have similar policies.

About breastfeeding in public hospitals, while overall pro-breastfeeding, the practices may differ slightly where you deliver. I've heard mums who delivered at Queen Mary almost unanimously saying they had the baby at bedside from the start. I delivered at United Christian (same as Aquarian I think) and my experience varied between my kids. For my first, after a standard-vaginal-delivery, my son was mostly in the nursery for the first day with us encouraged to breastfeed on a four-hour schedule and at my bedside thereafter (which i frankly found very tiring, since my son was probably hungry and refused to sleep and I refused to give him any formula). For my second, after a c-sec she was in special care unit for a day (due to a pre-diagnosed kidney condition) and once she came up to the nursery, they encouraged me to keep her at my bedside and breastfeed on demand thereafter.

If you're in a private room, I suspect they'll be happy to let you have the baby at bedside. In the wards, I suspect their policies take into account by other factors like scheduling bathtime, pediatricians rounds and letting the other mums in the wards rest.
 
My ob also told us that each private dr has a quota with their affiliated hospitals.

if you are considering cord blood or cord tissue banking -- this is ONLY possible through private hospitals. The public hospitals will only do this if you have an immediate need to save the life of an older sibling or family member. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about this... we did extensive research on this topic and met with all the banks and have extensive documentation on how each company works.
 
The high C-section rate is high partly because of some unscrupulous private doctors, but mostly because of local moms. (I say this as someone from a local HK family)

I don't want to get into the whole thing here, but there's all sorts of mis-information about labor, fears of pain, the (wrong) assumption that natural birth is more dangerous, superstitions, etc. So the rate is high at private hospitals mostly because patients ask for it. There are some cultural oddities, too, like parents who want their babies born on an auspicious date.

I briefly saw an ob/gyn with my first baby, who was awfully pro- C-section, so I switched. My second ob/gyn, whom I've used for 2 pregnancies, is private but pro-natural. He's a local Cantonese guy with a mostly local clientele -- and is very much for natural birth and breastfeeding. So just find the doctor who is right for you.
 
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