Urine sample for public hospital checkup

T

TraceyHat

Registered User
Hi all,

Bit of a weird question, but I went the other day and did my registration at Tsan Yuk hospital for antenatal checkups. I have an appointment for a checkup with a doctor next week. They said I should bring a urine sample with to each of my checkups. My problem is that I'm not really sure what to put it in. I've tried looking all over for a small plastic container but can't find anything suitable. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?
 
i NEVER did it... i would just ask for their "strips" when i got there and do it then and there (well, not quite, i'd go into the washroom first! LOL!). i really didn't want to be carrying around a bottle of urine with me. it was never a problem.
 
I used a little glass jar (small jam jar or something similar). I'd take it with me (empty) and pee in it in the washroom at the clinic, pop the test in, then empty, wash and dry the jar there.
 
they only need mid-stream, so there is really no need to put it into the jar, when you can just stick the strips into the stream when you are peeing...
 
When I went for my first appointment at Prince of Wales hospital I did not bring a sample as I assumed I could do as carang did, but he nurse made me go to the shop (7/11 I think) that was in the hospital and you could buy sterile cups there for urine samples so I did that every time I needed to give one in! They were something like 2 dollars for the container! they looked more like paper cups though and most of the other expectant mums did the same!
 
how silly! besides, peeing in a cup ain't exactly easy!

glad i'm done with all that stuff...;)
 
You can buy sterile plastic containers meant for specimen at Watson's. If they have difficulty understanding you, just google & show a picture of it. Get mid stream.
 
You can buy the small sterile cups for urine collection at all of the pharmacy supply places--the ones that cater to the elderly. But...I'm like carang...I stopped doing that. Because, well, it's nasty to be carrying around your urine in your purse all day. And, the one time I made the effort, the nurse opened up the bottle and for some reason a bubble of urine was at the top and she popped it and then got disgusted at me like I had done that on purpose or something. It was just gross and she made me feel bad about it. She also spilled some on herself and then looked at me like I had a problem. So, from then on I just went in, asked for the strip and took it to the toilette. It's the same thing you do when you take a pregnancy test--it's not really all that difficult and then you don't have to worry about cleaning out a urine cup. They always bothered me about it and told me, "Next time bring your own urine." Each time I compliantly nodded and then ignored their request. Don't worry, they can't "take your birthday away" for not bringing your urine and if you just smile and "act stupid" and do what you want it's not a big deal--and really it doesn't make their job any less convenient--you're the one who has to handle your urine anyway so it's your issue.
 
I remember at Tsan Yuk, they told us all to collect our samples in empty 35mm camera rolls. :)
 
I just started at Tsan Yuk too and last week i just bought a pack of disposable cups from the japan home centre place and waited til i got there to pee and then put it inside a plastic bag. You always have to wait when you get there anyway so there's enough time to do the sample while waiting for your BP and weight measurements to be done. So i suggest the paper cup!
 
Ok cool, will be great if I don't have to carry my pee around in my habdbag!!! :) Just one last thing; they said I should take the sample in the morning before I eat anything... Does this not really matter then?
 
I did the same as EKNG, just brought my own disposable paper cup. When they ask me for the sample, I would tell them that I just brought my cup. Then they would send me to the bathroom.... I don't think the sample has to be from the first pee of the day.
 
TraceyHat said:
Ok cool, will be great if I don't have to carry my pee around in my habdbag!!! :) Just one last thing; they said I should take the sample in the morning before I eat anything... Does this not really matter then?
Click to expand...

It can make a SLIGHT difference as the urine from the morning is more concentrated--that's why they ask you to take pregnancy tests in the morning because the HCG will be in a more concentrated form as you've gone many hours without using the toilette. But....this is only really an issue if you're at extreme risk for things like gestational diabetes. Mostly it won't matter at all so don't worry about it. The morning urine is the "most accurate." In the United States they don't start testing your urine until you're something like 6-8-months-pregnant and here they generally do it at every appointment so...
 
TraceyHat said:
Ok cool, will be great if I don't have to carry my pee around in my habdbag!!! :) Just one last thing; they said I should take the sample in the morning before I eat anything... Does this not really matter then?
Click to expand...

In the private hospital I was also going to - I used to alternative check-ups - they would just give me the strips to pee on with a clear small plastic bag and ask me to put the strip in it after I peed. So I guess wasn't that important that it was a first pee, though maybe first pee is more accurate. I'm guessing most working women would not be carrying their pee around in their bags all day.
 
charade said:
In the private hospital I was also going to
Click to expand...

Hi Charade, do you have an idea of how much all of the prenatal checks cost privately? Just an approximate.... I can't get insurance so deciding whether to go private and just pay for it for #2. I know the approximate costs of delivery, but not everything leading up to it...

= sorry to hijack the thread TraceyHat...
 
They were even more particular at the clinic in Shatin- had to be the SECOND pee of the morning before you have eaten anything. I brought the pee with me in a glass jar that used to have those bird's nest drink in it and it was perfect sized. Tiny little jar. And put it inside a ziplock bag too. And still HATED bringing it with me. THe worst was when I had appointments in the afternoon and had to carry it to work with me all day! Not like anyone knew, but I just felt gross.
 
Liquorice said:
Hi Charade, do you have an idea of how much all of the prenatal checks cost privately? Just an approximate.... I can't get insurance so deciding whether to go private and just pay for it for #2. I know the approximate costs of delivery, but not everything leading up to it...

= sorry to hijack the thread TraceyHat...
Click to expand...

They cost about 600-1000$ a check-up with ultrasound depending on which private doctor you see. For my first baby, I went to Dr. Eric Lee in Central (1000$) and a female doctor in Tseung Kwan O (HK$600). For my second, I was planning to go private so saw Dr. Jimmy Mak at Baptist Hospital (1000$). However, with both babies, I did the public antenatal check-ups too. And I got all the free testing I could get done in the public system. For my second baby delivered in Jan 2012, I paid for the Down's Screening privately (1500$ I think... not sure why since it's offered free in public; I was kind of keen to get the results asap) and the 20-week morphology scan (3000$ in private, no longer offered free in public unless high risk). I was much more chilled out for my second baby and spaced out the visits a lot.

If you want an exact figure of the total cost of antenatal check-ups, I'm going to be doing my bills for insurance so can PM you the figure once I'm done.

I didn't deliver private in the end because my husband was being very iffy due to job stress and I ended up having an emergency c-sec, and had decided that if I had an emergency would go public because the costs in private would jsut spiral out of control for an unplanned thing. I was pretty happy with my experience at public the second time around, maybe because I knew what to expect, plus it was a c-sec so I wasn't so exhausted. I'd suggest if you have financial constraints keep the public option open anyway because really you don't want the stress of counting the costs during your delivery.
 
Liquorice, just realised... my job insurance covers upto 10,000$ for a natural delivery. And for my first baby, my claim was around 9000$, with a LOT of antenatal visits because I used to run to the doc every couple of weeks in the first trimester because I was spotting. I had the morphology scan public for my first so you can add 3000$ to that since public won't offer that free now. So, you can expect 10,000$ - 15,000$ (to be safe) for the antenatal part. For both though, I did the initial blood tests in the public system though.
 
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