Pregnancy Costs

rani

rani

Administrator
How much does it cost to have a baby in HK?

One of the first questions that pops into everyone's mind once they find out they're :baby:

Here's a breakdown of what we spent:

Prenatal Care (consultations, u/s, 4D scan, blood work) - $19K
Private Room Adventist - $27K
Normal Delivery Dr's Fee's - $21K
Epidural - $4K
Anesthetist Epidural -$16K
Miscellanous Meds - $2K

Pediatrician - $5K

Total: $94K (Thank god for insurance)

What about you?

Rani
 
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elective c-section

Unfortunately, my baby was breach and I had to have an elective c-section at Matilda.
Hospital charges: $ 48k (private room + one x-ray for the baby)
Doctors:
Dr. Gosh (obst.): 51k, including pre-natal visits, tests, etc and delivery (we had just one bill from him at the end).
Dr. Thondup (pediatrician): $ 8k
Dr. Aik (anesthesiologist): $ 8k
Total: $ 119k (agree, insurance is everything here)

PS: Rani, have you had a normal delivery?
 
Oops, I forgot to mention I had a natural delivery.

Rani
 
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These are insane amounts of money!
For those of you without insurance...

Dr. Gosh pre-natal visits & tests - $10,000
Delivery at Queen Mary in public ward - $400

The cab fares to and from Pokfulam cost more than our entire hospital bill!
 
Dear Rani

Please can you explain something to me, I'm so confused about these costs! As far as I can see, a private room at the adventist for normal (3 day) delivery is ~$27,000, with an epidural coming in at $4,500. I don't know what Dr Gosh charges, but my obs (Derek Lo) charges $20,000 for normal delivery... my mental arithmetic is not great, but I reckon this is $51,500.... so what is the extra $20K for?!!! After all, the Adventist brochure claims that the packages include 'everything'.... is this true? If you wouldn't mind posting a more detailed breakdown of the costs, that would be really helpful.

One more question.. does everyone need to see a paediatrician?

The reason for these questions is that our insurance is up to a certain amount.. any hidden costs are going to hit us hard!
 
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Simms,

I've updated my post above.

Just wanted to let you know that the Anesthetist fees are high cos we called him at the last minute, plus it was a Sunday!

To avoid any surprises best to get a quote from Dr Derek's Anesthetist too.

Rani
 
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oh remember that there may be other extras like if your baby is jaundiced, it may need phototherapy. I had my baby at the Sanatorium, and that was almost am extra HK$5k a day (equipment rental plus blood tests but pediatircian's visit etc etc etc)

Most of my friends end up paying HK45-55K for normal deliveries at the Adventists.
 
Simms,

Yes, most hospitals require that you have a Paediatrician.

You should check if your insurance covers the baby as well. I was insured with William Russell and newborns are 100% covered for the first 28 days under the mother's policy.

Rani
 
Thanks for the info - the anaethestists fees are the shock for me - I had thought they were included in the $4,500 (can the drugs really cost this much?!), so will investigate further (including grilling of insurance company), but it looks like we'll be heading to QM!

Thanks again for your help, everyone
 
Folks,

PLEASE make sure that your doctors rates are firm and will not vary depending on the type of room.

The quote for a delivery should be firm and should not vary between room type. Normally the obgyn will charge as much as 5 times more if they deliver and you have a private room. The hospitals condone and promote this practise and the last thing you need is a bill that bankrupts(!?) you.

Same applies to QM. Rates for certain items change depending on the type of room you are in.
 
simms said:
Thanks for the info - the anaethestists fees are the shock for me - I had thought they were included in the $4,500 (can the drugs really cost this much?!), so will investigate further (including grilling of insurance company), but it looks like we'll be heading to QM!

Thanks again for your help, everyone
Click to expand...

He was called on a Sunday and it was treated as an emergency and billed at twice the rate (which is probably why he left his dim sum and showed up pronto) because we were in a private room. Go figure ...
 
Costed me approximately HK$70k or so (luckily I had insurance!)

HK$10-15k for prenatal checkup including 4D ultrasound

HK$55k for elective caesarian at Adventist (2-person room although there is just me in the room on the 2nd day onwards) including Dr's fees, Anesthetist fees and hospital charges- I had Dr Macor Wan and Dr Wan also looked after the baby too - no need to pay extra costs for paediatrician.

Dr Wan is very good and he visits me twice a day during my stay at the hospital!
 
Insurance for Delivery

Dear Rani,

I have never heard any health insurance that cover the cost of delivery. What company did you join and what are the cover? I definetely interested to join for my 2nd one. I am now 34 weeks and going to deliver in St. Teresa Hospital, Kowloon. I prefer to deliver in 3 bed rooms ward since it is reasonably cheaper and not to crowded, however my OB said the room that I will get at that time depends on the availability, I may get upgraded or downgraded. The epidural cost in St. Teresa Hospital is 5K, do I normally have to pay extra for this? I see that you paid 16k for the anesthetician, which was really expensive. Please reply me. Thanks heaps!

Yuni:thanks
 
Yuni,

I was actually covered with William Russell before. You get US$6500/pregancy, but you're not covered for the first 12 months. William Russell have increased their premiums and since then have switched to Health International. Premiums are lower and has better coverage. You can contact Pacific Prime for more info

http://www.pacificprime.com/

Regarding the epidural. Check if $5K includes the Anesthetist fees or is it only for the drug. Most of my friends paid $6K at the Matilda for the Anesthesiologist and $4K for the drug. We had D on a Sunday, hence $$$
 
Hi,

I'm looking forward to having my first baby in Sep 2009. Looking for an estimate of the costs in private hospital/ private obgyn.

Thanks,

Sri

PS: Rani... this cost seem to be really off the current expenses
 
Yes, this is what we paid 6 years ago. You should be able to check the maternity packages on the hospital sites (we will be adding them to Geobaby later this month) . Drs fees should be more or less the same.
 
After reading this, I am surely going to go back to the States again if I have another baby. My total costs including prenatal checkups (both in HK and the USA delivery with my husband and mother attending (43 hours long w/out medication but use of jacuzzi tub and birthing suite), recovery in a large private room with a small bed for my husband to stay, nursing station care for our baby, three days spent in the hospital, medication (I hemorraged after I gave birth-but otherwise had a normal birth), food from the hospital cafeteria, pediatrician at hospital and for first checkups came to less than 67K HKD. We cannot afford to pay the added extra maternity insurance from our monthly income so we had to pay out-of-pocket. Thankfully, this sum was not due before we gave birth--there was no need to "book a room" ahead of time--we just went, gave birth...and had up to 2 years to pay off the fees. I doubt this is possible in HK.
 
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