Private Room or Public Ward? Questions!

T

TNJ

Registered User
Hi everyone,

I feel like an absolute novice pregnant lady with a gazillion questions! So here goes..

I am registered at Queen Elizabeth (which I am very happy with so far), I'm now 15 weeks pregnant. (Due in august)

I would like to ask you ladies a few questions! (In hope you can help me figure some things out!)

I have o- blood type but my partner has o+, I'm really confused to what it actually means, but I know my body could develop antibodies against the baby?

I am currently looking to go into the private ward in QEH, I know first class is $3,900/day and I know semi-private is $2,600/day which is reasonable!

However, I am wondering what its like on a public ward? Is it really that bad?

How long (on average) do you have to stay in hospital after the birth?

Also has anyone else got the same blood problem as me? Will it effect how long I have to stay in hospital?

Thanks everyone!
 
i delivered 2 kids in QMH, public ward. while not luxurious, it was dirt cheap ($100/day) and only for about 3 days. for me, i wasn't prepared to pay more than that.

i learned very quickly when the orderlies/cleaning ladies cleaned the bathrooms and just made sure i showered immediately after that. that solved a lot of my issues.
 
Hi I've read in some of the threads, we are not allowed to book the private room in QM in advance? Is this still valid? I'm still considering between QM and PYE. Since I am betting so much on private ward, I thought my chances will be higher with PYE. But if QM changed its rule, I may want to reconsider. :)
 
i have no idea. my kids are now 6 & 8 years old, so my info is a little out of date. sorry.
 
In my understanding, when you are private/semi-private, the main cost is not the room but it is that you have to pay for all the doctors fees, anesthesia fees, etc... I think that they even back-date it so that they charge doctors fees for all prenatal appointments as well. At first glance, it appears to be not too expensive but once you add up everything, it can be around $100,000 for the pregnancy/delivers.

The one hospital that I know of that has a "special accommodation ward" in which you pay a bit more for a 4 bed room but you are still a public patient is Pamela Youde. If you want this room, it will be around $7K for a 3 day stay - no extras for doctors fees etc. As far as I know, the other hospitals do not offer this kind of room - but I could be wrong. QMH definitely does not have it.
 
@Carang thanks for your advice.. I guess I may consider just going public the entire way as QEH has been FANTASTIC so far... at the end of the day its only for a few days so I'm sure I can stick it out!

@Nicolejoy thanks for your feedback, I called the Queen Elizabeth yesterday and they didn't mention anything about fees other than for the room itself.. The special accommodation thing may be what they are doing in QEH?

Anyways, after a bit of consideration I think I'm going to go public! I've stayed on a public ward in HK before and survived!
 
Semi private rooms are in the same ward as public ward and you still hear yours and other babies crying

Public ward isn't that bad and probably less busy now that mainland deliveries are restricted - your babies are kept next to you so everyone's bay is there with you in the same ward

And yes you do have to pay for all the fees if you choose semi private or private and the visiting hours for semi private is the same as public ward anyway

If there is someone sharing your semi private room, its actually quite tight and hard to fit both babies in the same aisle between your beds.... More space in the public wards

And you can chat with the other mothers in the public wards :)
 
TNJ - I would specifically ask them whether that price also covers all medical care or just the room charge. Sometimes things can be a little lost in translation. I had that experience at QMH when I was pregnant and thought that the private ward would be affordable - but they must have thought I was only asking for the charge for the room and didn't tell me about the other medical charges until I specifically asked later.
 
Thanks ladies, I think I'm just gonna stick to public! Chatting to other mums sounds good - I hope some of the mums can speak English too!

Nicole I think your right about QEH and the costing, I asked a friend who also delivered there yesterday and she said that if I was considering going private then I may as well go fully private because it costs so much!

I think the public ward will be fine!

:smile:
 
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