Pediatrician or Not

Swoon

Swoon

Banned
Is a pediatrician necessary for newborn babies? Or would it be just the same to take baby to a General Practitioner? I need to get the one month vaccinations for our baby and would like to know how others feel about this matter.

Also, are there any good Pediatricians in Hong Kong that you can recommend?
 
Bzee,

Have a look at the following thread on "Selecting a Padetrician" which may help answer some of your questions.

http://www.geobaby.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=93475

We selected Dr Dannie Ting as our son's paedtrician and she's excellent. She also helps run the Well Baby Clinic at the Canossa where D gets his shots. She examines the babies to make sure they are fit for their monthly shots.
 
GP is fine

I think that if you have a GP with whom you have a good relatiionship, you can bring your child as well. Makes things more convenient. GP know how to deal with the basic issues of child growth and development (colds, accidents, etc.) and will refer to specialists as necessary..
 
The answer to the question of whether to use a pediatrician or a general practitioner seems to be what you are used to. Most Americans use a pediatrician because that is the system they use in the USA and Canada. Whereas most British mothers use a GP because that is the system they were brought up with.

I was raised in England and never saw a pediatrician in my life! Likewise my three elder children have never seen one. Our baby has, however, because she had problems shortly after her birth and need a specialist. The system I?m used to and what I do now is see a GP for everything and then allow her to recommend a specialist if required.

A word of caution about using a specialist or a GP ? check what your medical insurance will cover because you don?t want to end up paying when you don?t have to.

Also don?t forget the Government Maternal and Child Health Clinics. There are over 50 of these clinics around the SAR and give the standard vaccinations free to all babies and children. They also run well baby clinics where you can check the baby?s weight and talk to the nurses. Most of the nurses have received training to help mothers breastfeed and some are qualified IBCLC trained lactation consultants.

The following web page gives the addresses. http://www.info.gov.hk/dh/telephon/mchc_e.htm
 
MCH Centres

Thanks for mentioning the MCH Centres, I think they are one of the reasons that child health has improved so much for women in HK in the past 50 years.

Also, they provide FREE pre-natal checks and can book you into a public hospital for when the baby is born, which if you don't have private insurance or deep pockets is fabtastic. I think the current rates at a public hospital is $HK70 per day. So it is possible to have complete professional (if rather impersonal) care and birth in HK for less than $500.
 
My wife and I are taking a two pronged approach. For minor issues or when we are not sure there is a problem, we use a local GP covered by my wife's insurance plan. For the big check-ups, vaccinations and any big issues, we use our pediatrician Eunice Wong. She is the second Dr. we went to and we like her approach. She is very forthcoming with information and up on the latest research. My wife and I are in different ends of heathcare (natural and Western pharma), somewhat demanding and are both happy.
She is in the Lane Crawford Building in Central.
 
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