New to HK, New to Pregnancy, Need some Help!

S

SaraA

New member
Hi, there!

My husband and I just moved to HK (from NYC) a few weeks ago and just found out we are pregnant a couple of days ago! We should be receiving insurance from his company any day now, but it hasn't started yet (we didn't think it would be quite so urgent.)

I was wondering how one goes about choosing a doctor, a hospital, etc. in HK. I just read that private hospitals are very expensive, are they not covered by insurance? and How expensive is expensive?

I'll take any advice you may have! Thank you so much!


many many:thanks
 
Welcome to HK and Congratulations!

Have a read through this article on Pregnancy in HK

Pregnancy in Hong Kong

Do you know if you insurance covers maternity? Most HK employers don't include maternity cover. If you do have maternity, then yes you can use it for a private care.
 
Dear Saraa,

Welcome to Hong Kong! I just had my first baby and I was in the same situation you are in now 9 months ago! I can help you out alot. First of all not all insurance covers maternity, so you need to find that out first, and how much they cover. Like mine only covered a certin amount, so all my doctor visits I had to pay on my own so I had enough money for the delivery and hospital. Doctor visits cost me around Hk$600 per visit. you go once a month untill your closer to your due date and then you go every week.

I would recommend a private hospital if you are covered, (I went private) but I have heard that the public hospitals are fine also, the only thing is that you dont have the sane doctor for your visits and delivery. Also the public hospitals are very busy so you wont get VIP treatment. And they are not very experienced with foreigners! When I delivered at the private hospital I had a lot of special attention and my baby did also.

In my option Matilda private hospital is the best (on hong kong island) its like a hotel. To deliver there (or any private hospital) you need to make sure that you get a doctor that delivers at that hospital. The prices are very expensive for private. For me I had to have an emergency c-section and the total hospital bill was almost US $10,000.00 I had a semi private room, private is even more, but natural delivery is cheaper! For private hospitals its best to pick the maternity package! You can look at the hospital's web sites and find all the prices for maternity packages. (but up the price by 15% because when I went to my hospital to deliver they raised the prices 15% so we got a big surprise) Matilda web site is Matilda International Hospital

If you go private then you need to tell your doc what hospital you choose then you need to register rigth away (around 9 weeks pregnant) because there is a waiting list and you may not get in! Some hospitals require a large deposit right away like mine did. I wanted to go to matilda but because I live on Lantau Island by the airport I was too far from that hospital to deliver there, so I went to the Baptist hospital in Kowloon, (I really had a good experience there, all the nurses were great and spoke good english). You can go to the hospitals to have a tour of the maternity ward before you choose like I did!

For public hospitals your looking at around US200-300.00 natural delivery or maybe even less. you might have bad luck and get some nurses that dont speak good english, you may also have to share a room with alot of other women.

Most hospital public or private dont allow for your baby to room in with you! I think unless at a private you have your own private room with no one else they may let the baby room in with you. Otherwise all hospitals the baby is kept in the nursery and you have to go to the feeding room to feed them. Its not like the hospitals in the USA and Canada.

On this web site if you look through the articles section you will find an article on some good doctors and there fees! (keep in mind that the maternity packages for the hospitals dont include your doctors delivery fee, you will need to ask your doc what they will charge so you have a good idea)

If you have any other questions please send me a message, or if you like we could meet for coffee one day. Where do you live?

I hope this has helped.

PS also keep in mind that the packages dont include the Epidural or induction of labour if you need that it is an extra cost! Make sure you read everything before you choose so that you understand what everything includes!

From Chrissy
 
A couple of comments on the above post... I had my baby at Queen Mary hospital (public hospital) 9 months ago, and it was ok - not BAD, but not "pampered" either.

The doctors and nurses all speak good English. The only people who don't are the "tea lady" kind of people who deliver meals and do other random non-medical things. But they're not the people to ask things of anyway. They are very experienced with foreigners though - when I was there, there were at least 5-10 other westerners, and that was just in my couple of day stay. A LOT of westerners go there.

The total cost of my stay was only like HK$450 or so, including epidural, induction of labour, everything. Personally I think for value for money, you can't compare. Of course it's not going to be the same pampered experience as the private hospitals, but if it's coming out of your pocket, I think it's at least worth considering! Some people pay for private out of their pocket though and are happy with that decision. It's up to you, but at least look at the public option if you're going to be the one footing the bill.

The worst thing about QMH was that it is all ward rooms - totally open with thin curtains between everyone. And barely enough room to walk beside the bed. It can get pretty noisy and I didn't get much sleep.

ALL the babies there roomed in though. There was an option to put the babies in the nursery, but I think that very few people actually did that.

The medical care at the public hospitals is "better" than the private hospitals. If you have a premature baby or if the baby has something wrong with it, it will be transferred to QMH. They have an excellent NICU, so if your baby needs any special attention, it's probably better to be in the public hospitals.

I'm not trying to convince you to go one way or another - but the public hospitals do have a lot of benefits too. The worst thing about Hong Kong though is that you have to make this decision so soon after you find out that you're pregnant. Do a lot of research and figure out what works for you!! The first thing though is probably find out if you are covered by the insurance (maybe you won't be since some make you wait a year before you can have maternity benefits), and then if you're not, figure out if it's worth paying out of pocket or not. If I was covered 100%, I'd go private, but that's just me...
 
I read in my private insurance policy that you aren`t covered unless you got the insurance before you get pregnant something like 8-12 months. Check it out with your policy.
The private system in HK is very expensive(I ended up delivering in Guangzhou, about $4K USD for caesarian not incl doc visits) - seems like you pay about $7-15k USD for delivery depending on hospital and your situation. Not including doc visits, which were over $100usd (with ultrasound) for me when I went to HK. Even without u/s when you`re going every 1-2 weeks at the end, it really adds up.
 
Thank you for all the advice... Do you know, if you give birth in a public hospital, is the baby vaccinated? because i'm quite sure that I do not want this?

Thank you!
 
You can request that they do not vaccinate your child. You just need to let them know in advance. They do ask before they do it though. If you know what you want and let everyone know, they do try to follow your requests.
 
Hi Saraa

Welcome to HK. As a guide, I had my baby at Matilda 17 months ago - had epidural and induction, private room - bill for delivery and 3 day stay was HK$100K.

Do you mind me asking why you don't want your baby vaccinated?

SB2
 
Hi SaraA

I had my son at Matilda last December, I had an elective C-section and 5 night stay in a private room. It came to just over HK$125k. But I had private health insurance through work which covered 90% of the bill, so I didn't mind paying the balance. I had to be insured for 12 months before I could claim any maternity benefits. If I wasn't covered I would of gone to the QM.

I requested not to have my son vaccinated because I wanted to follow the Australian vaccination schedule. He was 6 weeks old when he had his first vaccinations. You have to sign a form requesting that you don't want the baby to be vaccinated. About 2 months later I got a call from the hospital to ask why!

Sorry I can't give any advise on the public hospitals, but I'm sure they would respect your wishes regarding vaccination.
 
I am worried about the link to autism via vaccinations. I rather have the shots spread out over a period of time. I have to read more about it but these are my initial thoughts.
 
they don't load babies up with 5 vaccines at once anyway (for a newborn baby, that is).

personally, i think living in asia is VERY different from living in the USA. the population density here makes it a breeding ground for disease.

i had my kids follow the local vaccine schedule without incident (not even a mild fever!). from the reading i've done and speaking to health and education professionals, it seems to me that the "autism" link has been fairly well debunked. (my opinion... i'm sure there are others out there.)

i went to QMH for my two birth experiences. i didn't have much choice. financially, we couldnt' even begin to think about matilda and medically, i have very complicated pregnancies, so told myself QMH was the best place for me.

if i am ever able to talk hubby into #3, i may try for matilda (no insurance) just for the experience! it IS like a hotel!
good luck! it's an exciting and terrifying time! remember to try to enjoy it! and also, remember to relax as much as possible because once baby arrives... that all changes!
 
i had my baby at Matilda, but she was sent to QMH within hours of being born...Matilda is GREAT for the mum but they didn't have the proper equipment for my daughter (there were no signs that there was to be a problem)....anyhow, at QMH you can request them not to have vaccinations if you want...I didn't have my BCG's there for my daughter - more for asthetic reasons though since they do it on the arm and it leaves a permanent scar sort of thing...I did it privately instead and I could choose for it to be done on her bikini line....a bit vain I guess....

like Cara says though...they don't load babies up with vaccinations here in HK - so I wouldn't be worried...if I recall correctly my daughter got 2 vaccinations (the most at one go) when she was 4 months old and every other time she got a vaccination it was one by one....

the medical system in HK is actually quite good and they are quite careful, so I wouldn't worry too much about the "autism" link....
 
Sara

The autisim link is "associated"with the MMR shot which they give babies at 12 to 18 months. If you go privately you can request to have these shots spread out over time and not as a single injection.

My peadiatrician actually worked with the Dr in the UK that documented the "autisim" link to vaccinations. However, he does not believe there is a link. You should certainly speak with him to alleviate your fears, but you don't have anything to worry about regarding the initially lots of vaccinations your baby will be given.

His name is Dr Ken Chan and he is based at the Matilida but you can also see him at Dr Lauren Bramley's office in Central.

Doctor Lauren Bramley & Partners || Family Practice
 
leslie - I agree re the BCG injection - we asked for it to be given in our son's leg as have seen some terrible scars on the arm from it. It is not even one that is given in my home country so agree with Cara - need to at least consider what is necessary for the local environment because Asia is very different to elsewhere in the world in terms of what is required (and it does go both way eg: up until a few months ago a meningitis shot was a requirement in my home country and is not a requirement in HK).

SB2
 
HI SaraA... and congratulations!!!!

Lost in HK too... New Pregnancy, 1rst baby (6 weeks), Just landed...
Quite scared I am...
For the first I saw for the hospital : matilda, just for delivery (only) will cost 100 000HKD... and so on...
The first time I came to the Central Health to have a French speaking doctor, only 5 min... Witch send me to the nurse for blood test and confirmation and to the midwife... like half an hour and only 1660HKD... So expensive...
I'm quite lost for the moment and it's quite early to tell everybody and get advices... So if you want share??? fell free to contact me!!
See you on the net...
Claire.
 
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