Sai Kung / Prince of Wales Hospital

L

lcg97

Registered User
Hi all,

I have recently found out that I am 6 weeks pregnant. I live in Sai Kung and was wondering if anyone has any recent experience of delivering at the Prince of Wales hospital in Shatin as it seems to be my only option if I go down the Public route with regard to catchment area. There are a few threads on here but back from 2008, so was just seeing if anyone had any more up-to-date stories particularly now that we seem to be in peak time for dragon babies in Hong Kong!

I have always heard that the Queen Mary is the best option for pregnancy as it has the most specialist treatment but would be out of my catchment area - is this an true or is POW comparable?

If I register at POW hospital, do all my clinic appointment need to be taken in that catchment area, or can I opt to take them on HK Island where I work?

I am also a little worried about English levels - particularly as I have just phoned the POW to try to find out the number of the department to make arrangements / register etc - and after only saying 'hello' the receptionist giggled down the phone, said to me in Cantonese she didn't speak English (I understood that much!) and hung up the phone - not a very reassuring first contact!

Many thanks in advance for any help and advise - as a first time mum this is all very overwhelming to deal with!!!
 
I delivered there in 2009 and I will answer the "English speaking staff" part of your question. When I was in the delivery ward, all the nurses that were there spoke very good english and understood everything I said. The doctor on duty that day was Australian and when i ended up having an emergency c-section the anaesthetist and surgeon were both Australian.
for my pre-natal appointments, the hospital staff in the clinic were OK but the doctors who checked me all had very understandable english.
The only area where I found any real issues were after delivery. Some of the staff on the wards did not understand me but if I had any questions there were nurses on the ward who did so it was fine.
I am not sure if you can have public hospital appointments over in central if you are delivering in PWH but you can absolutely have private OB appointments along with public system if you wish to go down that route.

Good luck!
 
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From what I understand Queen Mary is the most expat friendly and being a teaching hospital has the most experienced staff but Prince of Wales is also a teaching hospitals, so I'd think it's second best in that regard. Also, if you or your baby need specialist treatment that can only be provide in QMH, they will refer you there so don't worry about that.
 
I also delivered in POW in 2011. In my birth plan, I indicated that I cannot speak the local language & all throughout my delivery they had an English speaking person there. In the ward where you recover, it's a bit different. For the important stuff like post natal check-up, tests for your baby, shots etc, they will bring in someone who speaks English. Even if they are addressing all 8 of us mums in the ward, they will then have someone come over & talk to you. With other matters like someone deliver to the meals, water, cleaners or staff who assist in general, they speak Cantonese. I'll be honest & say some of the small stuff was lost in translation but I was happy to let it go & just get some rest.

Re: antenatal check-ups, I did the minimum required at POW & did all of my check-ups at Annerley or their recommended dr. I did this because I cannot afford long waiting times at POW since I had to pick up my daughter from Kindy by 12 & I didn't want to drag her there in the afternoon (I did not have a helper at that time). Whereas with Annerley, I'd go straight in & even have time for a quick look at Bumps to Babes before I pick up my daughter.
 
Thank you to all for your positive feedback. I feel much happier now!

Newbie_hk - Can I just ask, what was the 'minimum required' at POW? I think I am going to go down that route, and then do the rest with my private doctor / Annerly (or other) - I'm like you and want to have more organized appointments so I can plan my day better as I will be working throughout the pregnancy. Was Annerley a good option? They look very professional and a supportive organization so I was thinking of using them as well...

And one last question (for now) - how do you register at the POW? Can I get my private doctor to refer me or do I need to go directly? If directly, what is the best number to contact them on when someone who answers the phone won't hang up on me ;-)

Thanks again to AmyH, charade, Newbie_HK for all your quick responses - it really is appreciated!
 
To be honest I can't remember the " minimum requirement". Just a bit of background, I was already 4 months pregnant when we moved here & 5 months when I finally registered. Most of my scans & "milestone" check-ups were done in Sydney.

So here's what I did:
1) Went to Annerley & got a list of which check-ups they can do
2) Went to private OB gyn for a scan & referral to POW
3) registered with POW with referral letter. Since I registered so late, the next appointment they could give me was 2 months later. They said I have to go to their clinic for their regular appointment (I'm not 100% sure if they mentioned a clinic) but I said I will do mine privately & they were happy with that. They did say that i had to go to their hospital for certain check-ups. Waiting time can be 1-2 hours. All in all I blocked off 3 hours for their check-up (including travel) . I think I only ended up having a check up once.

I liked Annerley since they are very relaxed, reassuring & their style of examination is similar to my check-ups in Sydney - non intrusive. I have heard of OB GYNs who do scans and vaginal exams at every check-up. I find that intrusive & unnecessary. I believe that Annerley now has a package for those who want to opt for private antenatal checks then public delivery.

Re : contact number. I believe I found the number of their antenatal ward on the web, if not here on Geobaby. Sorry, I don't have their direct number.

Good luck & if you have any further questions, feel free to ask.
 
to register, you just need to show up at the hospital with a letter from a doctor confirming you are pregnant, your HK ID and your husbands ID (I think!). The number for the OB department is :

Obstetrics & Gynaecology 26322470

If I remember rightly, they are on the second floor and when you get there there is a counter for new patients. Just give all your info in there and they will arrange an appointment for you.

I did minimum appointments there and went to a private OB for the rest. I did not register until I was 24 weeks pregnant and had two appointments with them, one at 30 weeks and one at 36 weeks. They were fine with that.
 
I had some really negative feedback about the POW yesterday and that they now have a policy that fathers are only allowed into the birthing room during the final 10 minutes. Both my husband and I really want him to be around during the whole thing. Does anyone have any recent experience of this? I was recommended to go to the United Christian instead but I don't seem to be able to find that much positive stuff about there either... Any ideas? I had just registered at the POW yesterday morning, and now I'm worried this isn't going to be the right option. The feedback was from a midwife who works around multiple hospitals in HK, so I guess she knows her stuff???
 
lcg97... gosh what a bummer! It is so inhuman to not let a woman have her husband or close relative/friend with her during labour. It would also help the nurses, who wouldn't have to keep doing the regular coaching and comforting stuff.

First, I think you must clarify with the nurses at PoW directly. Either ask at the reception or at your appointment. Don't let them be wishy-washy. Say you heard the policy is only 10 minutes and is that true? See what they say. In a matter like this, it's best to get the info from the horses mouth.

Second, I delivered both my babies at United Christian... my daughter was born in Jan so my experience is fairly recent. As far as I know, they definitely allow husbands into the delivery suite for natural labour during the active labour part when you are in the delivery suite. They even have a poster on the door outside the delivery suite about the importance of hubbies being there. However, since hospital policies do change and this matter is important to you, if you do decide to switch to UCH, please ask directly what the hospital policy is. For my son, I had a natural delivery in 2010 and my husband was allowed in as soon as I was in active labour - which was a good eight or more hours. I could not have done it without him and so I highly recommend you try to get a hospital that will allow your husband in.

For my daughter born in Jan, I had a emergency c-sec as my waters broke and she was in breach position. My husband was not allowed in but they were good in communicating with me when to call him, I literally said hello to him for 2 secs before being wheeled into surgery and then I saw him a couple of hours later once I had come out of the recovery room for anther 2 secs. He was shown the baby briefly after she was cleaned up when they were taking her to the ward. I delivered at 8 and he was able to visit me during visiting hour at 12 so that was fine. Honestly, during a c-sec not a big deal to not have my husband there... but for natural labour, it would have been very very bad to not have him there.

About United Christian... I have my grouses with them in terms of the grumpy young resident doctors, who thankfully one sees only once or twice during the whole experience if your delivery is smooth. The midwives and nurses are largely great! I am in awe of their patience and devotion to the job. They are great during labour and great at helping with breastfeeding. But yes, like at all public hospitals, they expect you to be on the bed strapped to monitor during active labour and if you want to deviate from that, you may be allowed if you fight.

The wards are comfortable and spacious - more spacious and less noisy than the ward at Baptist, a private hospital that I was supposed to deliver at. The loo hygiene could be better. However, after delivery, you can use these special loos and those are generally very clean. I am one of those weird people that wolfs down hospital food so I thought it was fine, but most ladies had family bring them food.

I plan to write to United Christian - if I could ever locate an email address for this purpose, their website sucks - about my grouses so hopefully they might take some action on the loo cleaning at least by the time you get there... if you decide on UCH. Good luck and PM me if you have questions about UCH.
 
My husband was with me at the birthing room in POW but I do recall that I had to tell them to bring him in. Same with my friend who gave birth there just last week. The nurses waited till my friend told them that she wanted her husband in the delivery room.

POW is clear that they will not let husbands in during labour but in the actual delivery, they can come.

All things considered, I would not be rushing back to give birth at POW even if all I had a pay was around $250.
 
Btw, POW had loo issues as well now that Charade mentioned hers. Almost a year after my birth at POW, I'm still grossed out.
 
Just gave birth in UCH, United Christian hospital, 2 weeks ago. I can really recommend it! I had heard all kind of stories, but they were great! Staff was good, I was able to move freely, push in a position I wanted and the baby was placed on my chest right after the birth and I breast fed him 45 min after. They gave us time and privacy. They also have a ?program? that you are allowed to have one person with you at the birth, so your husband/ doula... is allowed to attend the delivery, if not emergency c-section. This is why I actually decided to go to UCH instead of POW. I had a lot of support from Annerley on the side though.

If you wanna ask more details, or anything just pm me :)
 
Thanks to everyone for your feedback. We've changed our registration now to be at UCH - it's actually much closer to our home as well. We had a wander around when we went to visit and it seemed really clean and everyone was very friendly. First appointment tomorrow. It's all starting to feel real now!!!
 
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