I am not sure whether ALL governtment hospitals allow rooming-in of babies at all times. I delivered at United Christian hospital (govt. hospital in Kwun Tong) last year. My baby was brought to me for breastfeeding a few hours after delivery (not sure exactly how long after - I think 2 or 3 hours - I was pretty dazed) and then taken away to the nursery and then they had a breastfeeding schedule. On the second or third night, mums were encouraged to keep their babies with them. I, however, never managed to keep the baby with me all night because he kept crying, after a couple of hours of breastfeeding (yes, I sat there with baby at my breast for TWO HOURS at a stretch practically every time) they offered to take him away and feed him formula (they cupfeed) which I agreed to with much relief so I could get some rest. The nursery is within the ward and really, not a bad thing. Maybe if I insisted I wanted the baby with me at all times, they might have agreed. However, I once asked if, since my baby was finally asleep and he had just finished feeding two hours ago, I could not wake him to feed him, they said no... I needed to feed the baby then so that he didn't end up getting hungry and waking the other mums later on.
So I'd get info based particularly on your hospital as there seems to be a variation between hospitals.
