Pregnancy questions

Y

yikes

Registered User
Hi there,

I just found out that I'm pregnant (first child) and have had that confirmed by my regular doctor. I am super excited. I've been researching all day about being pregnant in Hong Kong and have a few questions that I was not able to find answers for. I would be grateful for any advice.

I'm thinking of delivering at a public hospital but supplementing that with some private care. The hospitals I am considering are Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth or Kwong Wah.

Does anyone know if West Kowloon is within Queen Mary's catchment area?

How do I go about visiting the hospitals (before I register with one)? I could not find information on the hospitals' websites.

Do I need to register with a public hospital asap?

I have booked an appointment with an OB/GYN this week - is it too soon? I am 4 weeks pregnant. Is it best to wait until 8-10 weeks? I don't want to have unnecessary appointments.

On my list of things to do including booking antenatal classes, midwife help and postnatal help - but I'm a bit lost as to when all these things need to be done.

Any advice would be appreciated as I'm a bit lost as to what I should be doing and when. Thanks!
 
Q1 - Queen Mary is not in your catchment area as it is for central and the Island, but you can ask your OB to write you a referral letter for that specific hospital if you are wishing to deliver there. They may not accept it though. I delivered in Prince of Wales hospital Shatin.

Q2 - I am not sure of you can visit the hospitals before you register.

Q3 - If you are having private OB appointments there is no rush on registering with the hospital (I registered at 28 weeks!)

Q4 - The appointment is not too soon but the OB will not be able to see a heartbeat until about 7 - 8 weeks so if you are paying for the private OB yourself then I would wait!

Q5 - I didn't do any of the antenatal stuff here so can't help you on that one!

Good luck!
 
Q5- I'm always happy to recommend Annerley near D'aguilar street at Central. Fantastic staff. They do antenatal, post care & they have a midwife. I did my antenatal care there and delivered at Prince of Wales.
 
If you want to deliver at a public hospital, and if you are not a HK resident, you have to register a.s.a.p. (very limited quota for non-HK mothers). However, if you are a HK resident (you have HK ID), then you may not need to rush, but still I would not wait because many scans may no longer be available if you wait too long to register (e.g. 20 week anomaly scan). Since it doesn't cost that much for a HK ID holder to register with the public hospitals, there is no harm in registering early.
 
Most of your questions have been addressed. Just wanted to add that the public hospital is not like a hospital in other countries where you get to "tour" the hospital prior to birth to see how things go. When you go for your checkups they will be done at the hospital--at the clinic section. You won't be able to see the delivery wards etc. until you're actually in labor. You also won't meet the actual doctors, nurses and staff that will be on duty with you until you're in labor--you don't get to choose. So, you'll get to see the checkup clinic when you register at your hospital but you won't see the wards until labor. Tours are not available like that here.
 
first of all, congratulations!

referring to the hospital tour, i delivered at Queen Mary in 2010 and they do offer tour of the hospital which they encourage you to sign up for when you first register at the hospital. i know they still offer it at QMH since my brother and sis-in-law just went for their tour last week. not sure about other public hospital though...

it is a fixed schedule tour which they will take the group of registered parents-to-be to see the pre-delivery ward, delivery suites and post-delivery ward... they do explain everything quite clearly in the 1-hour tour, down to what you have to pack, what to do when you check-in etc. it's more like an orientation though rather than a tour for your to decide if you like to choose the hospital.

for private hospitals, some you can arrange tour by appointment, and some are group tours as well, best to call individual hospitals to check.

As previous poster mention, you can register at public hospital at anytime if you are an eligible HKID holder. but if you intend to utilize their antenatal classes, exercise class, tours etc it is advisable to register early since they fill up quickly. antenatal class are offered for free, and exercise class is $100 for first time and $60 for subsequent sessions, lead by their inhouse physio... while antenatal appointments are offered to all registered, structure scans are only offered on first come first serve basis only, so if the available time slots are filled they will ask you to go do it privately (unless they categorize the pregnancy as high risk).

since you mentioned you would do the combo route with private support so you can take more time to make the decision which you are most comfortable with. have a chat with your OBGYN when you see him/her at 7-8 weeks... private hospitals usually take booking from 9-week onwards, and for Queen Mary the earliest they see a new case is after 11-week (while you can call the clinic as early as you wish to request for an appointment, they will assign you a date to go register in person based on your EDD calculations).

all the best!
 
I am not HK resident, but i planning to have baby in HK, but it seems all private hospitals fully booked by mothers from China.
i am expat in china. anybody knows how to get booking in hospital or ob-gyn who get booking in private hospital? sorry it sound strange, but i really want to have baby in hk!
 
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