Public Hospitals

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Peggy&Tony

Registered User
My wife and I are expecting our first one in October and we are undecided on private vs. public. Money has some consideration but I want to know what the general feeling is?

Could you please let me know your experience. What was bad/good? Why do people prefer private/public? Generally, public has a bad reputation, why?

I'd appreciate your feedback.
 
I've had experiences in both. #1 was born at the Adventist and I gave birth to #2 at the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (PYNEH). I was obviously more "comfortable" at the Adventist. I had a room all to myself, whereas at the PYNEH, I think at the time there were six of us to a ward. Care-wise, I felt more "pampered" at the Adventist, but that's not to say that the care was not good at PYNEH. In terms of breastfeeding support, what I got at PYNEH was FAR better than the breastfeeding support I got at the Adventist. For a whole month after the baby was born, I would get calls every week from a hospital staff checking up on how I and the baby were doing, how breastfeeding was coming along, etc. I never got that from the Adventist.

Granted, I had a C-section at the Adventist and had a normal delivery at PYNEH, what we paid at PYNEH was not even 1% of what we paid at the Adventist.... and this is with my daughter having had to be in NICU for a night or two for phototherapy.


The one thing that I didn't like so much at the public hospitals were their visiting hours (too short). It's a general perception that public hospital staff are more rude, but apart from one very militant nurse, I found all the nurses during my stay to be very polite and very helpful.

If we are to have another one here in HK, I think I'd still opt to go public, esp. as I will be much older and there will be higher risks involved. In cases like these, even if you are admitted to private hospital, if anything goes wrong, you might end up getting sent to the public hospital anyway.

Good luck with your choice (and congratulations!).
 
Hi there - I had my first baby at the Queen Mary a few weeks ago and there were good and bad points. Firstly, contrary to what you will often hear, in my experience the staff were not rude or unkind. Secondly, it was clean, including toilets and bathrooms. However, they were very very busy and I felt I got little attention which lead to me being without any kind of pain relief until after I was fully dilated - despite asking for everything they had!! Life on the ward after the birth is not fun, it is extremely noisy and very hard to get any rest with constant interruptions, and the cubicles are very cramped. Visiting hours 3 hours per day was hard for my husband. I also had to be induced so spent a good 14 hours or so in labour, in pain, and without my husband's support due to visting hours. If you go into labour spontaneously though you can just try and stay at home til you are ready to go into the delivery room though. But, I think medically the baby is in very safe hands, they would not let baby come to any harm. I don't want to be overly negative because at the end of the day I have a lovely, healthy baby so am thankful for that. But, I for one would think twice about getting pregnant in Hong Kong again unless I could go private because it was not a pleasant experience (some people have good experiences though, so maybe I was just unlucky). Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
Hi, congratulations on the pregnancy! I went to the Queen Mary for the birth of both my boys (in 2004 and 2006 respectively). I am now pregnant with my 3rd child and will be going to Queen Mary again. The reason why I went public is because we don't have private insurance. The Queen Mary is excellent in most ways that matter. The staff all speak very good English so communication is no problem. The facilities are very clean. The care they give the baby cannot be faulted. I had a birth plan and this was followed to the letter. I had an epidural with my 2nd child and again this was granted as soon as I asked for it.

Things to note: the mother is not pampered in any way and although they are very kind and will help out with anything you need/ are having problems with, the staff are busy and will not fuss over the mother! The food is awful. You get whatever Dr/ nurse/ midwife is on duty at the time for your appointments and birth so you can't build up a personal relationship with them. (I didn't mind as they were all good) The visiting hours are strict and minimal (I think an hour at lunch time and two hours in the evening if I remember correctly). The husband may not be with his wife in the early part of labor. Only once she has dilated at least 3cm and is ready to go to the birthing room, then he is allowed to be with her from then onwards. Up until this point she is in a ward with other ladies who are in the early stages of labor. However, she may go out this ward at any time provided the monitors are not on her so you can both walk around the hospital/ go for coffee etc. as long as she "checks in" from time to time so the staff can see how labor is progressing. The total cost of a 3 night stay in hospital, the birth and a night under the lights for jaundice for my baby was less than HK$500 and we paid by octupus card (seriously!).

I have friends who have delivered in the Matilda and they were very happy. More like a hotel than a hospital and very attentive care from what I understand. Unfortunately you pay anything from $80000 upwards for this privelage. As Buckaroo mentioned above, if anything goes seriously wrong at the private hospital then they take you to the public hospital anyway as the private hospitals don't have all the specialised equipment needed to deal with those emergencies.

Good luck with whatever you decide and may the pregnancy be a blessing in every way!
 
honestly, medically-speaking public is the best. it is the public hospitals that have the emergency equipment that the private hospitals don't have.

comfort-speaking, matilda is more like a 5* hotel. the public hospitals are more like a 1*. matilda provides gourmet food selection, private hospitals provide gruel. (however, you CAN order in from Soho delivers etc if you are at QMH).

difference in price for a c-section:

QMH about $500 maximum
Matilda..... $100,000+

i was hospitalised at QMH on MANY occasions, i quickly learnt what i needed to take with me to make my time comfortable. and didn't mind it at all.
 
I just had my first baby at the Matilda in December and can not fault the care, support and attention that I recieved from the nursing staff. It is like a 5 star hotel and you are made to feel very comfortable. And yes the food is great. My husband was able to stay with me at all times and as we had a private room he stayed over night. I had an elective c-section and stayed for 5 nights. The only reason I went private is because I had a normal pregnancy and my employers insurance covered 90% of all my costs. I'm not sure what I would of done otherwise, but returning to Australia to give birth was an option I did consider.

You could combine private ante-natal care and then elect to deliver at a public hospital. At least then you will see the same Dr on a regular basis and have more scans. I was scanned once a month and then every 2 weeks towards the end.

Congratulations and good luck with your decision.
 
I'm 28 weeks now and doing a combination of private doctor and public hospital. I see my private doctor for an U/S every month, as it is my first and I have lots of questions and no real support network here in HK, as I am the first among my friends to give birth. And I want to be able to send my parents U/S pics of their first grandchild, as they are extremely excited as well.

The public system, as I've experienced it, is very nice, just not personal. I don't know about delivery yet, but so far I am satisfied with the care they have given me. Just be prepared for every appointment to take time, one to two hours for the checks at the hospital itself, and at least an hour for the ones at the out-patient clinics.

The best part of it, so far I've paid a grand total of $120 (for blood-tests and ultrasounds) versus the few thousand I've shelled out to my private doctor (at $900 a visit). And like some one else already mentioned, the stay in hospital for delivery etc, will only be a few hundred!

I'm going to be delivering at PYNEH in May, so I'd be interested in hearing anyone's reports on how it was delivery-wise, as most people on this forum seem to have gone to QMH instead. Anything I should look out for? Especially as a first-time mom?
 
Congratulations, Hannah on your first baby. :)

I don't have any complaint about the delivery at PYNEH. When they admitted me, I went in requesting for Room 7 because I'd read somewhere that that's one room where you're guaranteed not to have a roommate while in labor. As that was already occupied, the nurse on duty was kind enough to get me into a labor room all by myself... and in the almost 10 hours or so that I was there, I was by myself, even though there were other ladies who were in labor at the same time. My husband was allowed in the room with me.

I had a 2-page birth plan which they pretty much followed. Please make sure that you bring several copies with you.

I requested that they spoke in English because I didn't want to miss out or misunderstand anything that they tell me, especially medical terms, etc. and also, hubby couldn't speak Chinese. That wasn't a problem.

They tried to get me to sign consent forms for an episiotomy, etc., but they respected my decision to not sign until I absolutely had to.

Pain-relief --no problem. They were quick with the epidural and I even asked for a top-up.

I was able to hold and nurse the baby within minutes after delivery (part of my birth plan).

One thing I'd suggest: Get a small inflatable ring (like the ones for swimming) and have it with you when you go to the hospital, if you're going to have a natural delivery. It makes such a difference sitting on one vs sitting directly on a chair after delivery. I saw all these ladies there with the rings and I didn't realize what they were for until nursing time. One lady was kind enough to lend me hers after she finished and it made sitting so much easier and more comfortable.

Good luck, Hannah.
 
to dink,

my wife gave birth a few weeks ago at QMH (public route) as well. I am surprised to read your husband wasn't with you when they induced you. i was with my wife the whole time. The only visiting hours i had to deal with was after the birth. also the only time i was not allowed with my wife was during surgery (she had c-section) and when we were waiting to enter the labour ward (water broke but no contractions so we had to wait until the hospital decided to induce). we were left alone for a long time though (no idea what the nurses were doing) during the inducement.

To peggy and Tony,

medically: public hospitals are better. many of the public hospitals do have private sectors so you can choose to go private in a public hospital.

economically: public route is much cheaper. i have heard for private, the fee can go up to 100,000 HKD. For public, it would need to be a very, very serious case, if you spent more than 500 HKD.

real life example: my colleague was suppose to pay 70k for his wife to have a c-section. their son was a premmie so their private doctor told them to go to public hospital (QMH) because the facilites are better. he ended up paying 500HKD because his son had to stay in the hospital for 1 month (due to prematurity) and his wife for 1 week (wife has health issues).

just remember that you do get what you paid for. if you just want professional service, then public is no problem. if you want to be pampered and comfortable, then do private. my wife was not so happy about how she was treated but for the price, she has little complaints (she was not so happy about the service). For the recovery ward, the only complaint she had was that the nurses kept waking her up every few hours at night to breastfeed so she was pretty tired.

also for public route, you cannot choose your hospital. you are assigned according to where you live.
 
Congratulations Hannah... You're pretty much in the same situation as we are. I hope everything turns out wonderfully.

A few questions I have:
Does anyone have any experience at Prince of Wales?
Can the husband be with the wife during labor and birth at public hospitals?
Does the mother have to take care of the baby 24/7 after birth or is the hospital willing to help in a public hospital?
(my friend just gave birth at Union and the hospital takes care of the baby for the first few days)

Thank you very much for all your suggestions so far.
 
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1. I have a few friends who have delivered at Prince of Wales - they were VERY happy, even more so than the people I know who went to Queen Mary. The doctors at Prince of Wales sound excellent from what they said.

2. In public hospitals the husband is allowed to be with the wife for most of the labor (past 3cm dilated in the Queen Mary - not sure about the other hospitals) and definitely for the birth unless it is an emergency ceaser. Even then I have heard stories of husbands being very forceful and being allowed to be present.

3. Can only speak for the QM here. I had my baby with me 24/7 except for bathtime which the nurses took care of. I did state in my birthplan that I wanted my baby with me at all times though. They did have a baby room where they took the babies if the moms wanted to sleep and then they would bring the babies back to the moms for feeding every 3 hours. The definitely don't take care of the baby for you all the time as they want to see that you are capable of looking after the baby on your own I think, also the nursing staff are very busy themselves. The staff were very willing to help with anything though so if they see the mom is battling, I am sure they will do all they can to make things easier.
 
Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital

I had my first one at the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in April last year... my overall experience was quite good. They are very breastfeeding supportive and my experience with the staff are generally good. The bonus is the cost: all for just about HK$1,000 (I had the epidural, stayed there for I think 4 nights and my baby was at the intensive care unit for a week) :haha:

It wasn't my initial plan, but when I called the private when my water broke, there was no place at 3 hospitals on the island...(I didn't pay the deposit as I was advised to cause I didn't believe the system works that way and didn't think we really need to fight for a place to deliver :frown: )

I am having another due this November. Before the outbreak of this Swine Flu thing, I am sure to want to go back to PYNEH again, unless there's a need to have my own OB to do the delivery, then I have to go private.

But now, I worrying if this Swine Flu would really happen like SARS, and crowded public hospital is definitely not a good place to go.

Cost is not really an issue for us, I think the reasons if I'd go private this time will be 1st: if I need my own ob to do the delivery, 2nd: the swine flu worries, 3rd: if I am so keen for smiley faces and more comfortable bed.
The pathetic thing here in HK is that you need to place the deposit for an unguranteed placement right the beginning of pregnancy if you want to go private, and I was told that only Canossa and Adventis are available now (another 2 my OB would go, Matilda and Sanatorium are fully booked till the end of the year).


I have never delivered at the private, I may not able to comment much. But so far, I have heard many negative things about Canossa and Adventis such as breastfeeding support, and moms don't get to see or be with their babies the 1st 24 hours...And if I am wrong to say this, but do hear lots of moms at private are "persuaded" to go for c-section at the end, which saves the mess and the time for the doc and the hospital. Even more ridiculous that most babies at private are born around 3 -5pm, when the doc are more free at the clinic, at most cases the nurses at the hospitals have a way to stop the babies coming out before the doc is free to come to do the delivery. How true is this? Not sure...

Many people did tell me about the unfriendliness at the public too, but after my own experience I think it's really how we treat others to expect how we will be treated. I think some patients in the public are not too friendly and polite themselves, some are even very rude and inconsiderate.. I wonder how they would expect the staff to treat them back, especially if they don't pay them :haha:
and I would think even if some of the staff may be too stressed up to put up a smile, who cares, so long as they do what they need to do for me and my baby...
After this, I can go to a luxury spa and medicure to get plenty of smiley faces :haha:
 
Ya Carang

another drawback about public hospitals that some moms concern about will be they have a group of junior doctors watching. And if you are not that lucky, you end up being stitched by a not too skillful doctor :)

In my case, one of the doctor who was suppsed to remove the epidural tube from my back didn't know how to do it, so a senior nurse/ midwife did it for the doc... I was a bit like, huh?!! :haha:

Good luck all moms...:gl:
 
if you are uncomfortable with others watching, then ask that they not and see what they say. they may ask you nicely to please allow them as QMH is a teaching hospital. i don't think that's the case with pamela youde.
 
I gave birth to our first baby at Prince of Wales Shatin, and would definitely go back there to have our second. I had had a straightforward pregnancy and all the tests showed baby was very healthy. So it was a surprise that I had delivery complications and needed an emergency c-section. I had planned a natural birth and the team was happy to follow my birth plan. Then we discovered that I had a cord prolapse and baby would suffer oxygen deprivation unless she was born immediately. The staff reacted promptly and my baby was born within 10 minutes of my being wheeled into the op theatre. I was monitored very closely for the 1st 12 hours after delivery. In the postnatal ward, care was very professional if not businesslike, coz they were so busy. But no staff was rude or condescending and no patient was ignored. The priority was for patients in pain - some were, coming out of their c-sections. Some nurses coached me with breastfeeding. One nurse sat down with me for an hour to learn how to get my baby to latch on. My stay was a 'no frills' experience but I did not mind as I could see the medical care was excellent and I would be home in 4 days. Not much privacy either. Visiting hours were only 2 hours/day and 2 visitors each time. Food was not great, quite bland, so I had meals brought from home. I had not planned to give birth in a public hospital. It was only because I was new to HK and did not know I had to book early. So I had antenatal check ups with a private obstetrician. In addition, I had my major milestone screenings/tests at the POW antenatal clinic so that they would have my records and it was also to save on costs. The downside was the queueing. I noticed that the medical approach tended to be conservative if there was any hint of a risk. I thought I had the best of both worlds as my private obstetrician was able to give me the extra attention I sometimes wanted yet I had the assurance of the medical expertise in the public system. My hospital bill came to the princely sum of $450 whereas in the private system we would have paid in excess of $100,000. It wasn't about the money however. All the time I felt I was in good hands at POW.
 
My wife recently gave birth at Queen Mary Hospital and whilst we were considering delivering privately at Matilda, I am EXTREMELY pleased with our decision to go to QMH. Like the previous poster, our pregnancy was very routine up until the delivery, where my wife also needed an emergency c-section - but the dedication and professionalism of the doctors and midwives was amazing!

A couple of points from my side;

1) I think we made an extremely wise to choose QMH over some of the private alternatives. I can honestly say from my experience there that the quality of medical care is absolutely top notch. We ran into a spot of trouble during labour and had to have an emergency-C section - whilst extremely nerve racking for me, I felt immediately reassured when i saw how the medical and nursing teams were going about their work. Trust me, they are absolute professionals, and you wouldn't want to have anything less.

2) Aftercare, whilst without the frills of some of the private hospitals were pretty good. My advise is to make 'friends' with a nurse from each of the shifts. You will have a much better time. Oh and, the nurses in blue/white uniform are much nicer on the whole and willing to help than the matrons in white/red.

3) Wear their clothes! One of the things mentioned on our birthplan was that she would rather wear her own nightgowns in order to be as comfortable as possible. Well, its a messy affair and it soon dawned on us that wearing their clothes is not such a bad idea!

3) BRING YOUR OWN FOOD! I made breakfast, lunch, dinner deliveries everyday. It was also nice to sit outside the ward and have lunch together - See below;

4) Because of swine flu, they have reduced their visiting hours to just 6-8pm every day. I also believe that since we delivered, the have tightened these restrictions due to the increasing cases of swine flu.

5) One last point, don't bother going for a mani/pedi prior to your expected due date (as she did) as I was sat during labour wiping off all the nail polish as per hospital rules.

If you have any questions about the QMH experience, please don't hesitate to ask!
 
jsut to let you know... you can't have polish because in case they need to see the colour of your fingertips, toenails during delivery to ensure you are getting enough oxygen etc.
 
Hi

Congrats

Well if you are going public they are generally good but if you are having medical complication be very sure that you know your own condition well, cos in my case they got my file mixed up with another patients file 1 week before my delivery and due to this mixed up my hubby did not want to take the risk so I ended up in the private hospital.

I was on private care too at the time, in order to have regular u/s and more regular check up due to my medical condition.
 
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