Which hospital to choose??

D

DaliHK

Registered User
Hi there,
I just found out I am pregnant :-) and now I am rushed to book a hospital bed.. Wow.. Where do I start?

I think my insurance covers private, so I am considering Matilda, Adventist or Queen Mary's.
- Any experiences?
- Can I visit the maternity wards before deciding? How does that work?
- What are very important things that I should look out for?

I don't know much yet, but i think i would prefer natural delivery, my partner present, help with breast-feading and my newborn with me as much as possible.

Thanks a lot for your help!

DaliHK
 
if money is not an object, i'd go for matilda. but i don't think it is you who books the bed, rather your doctor, so forget hospitals and find a doctor ASAP.

QMH is different, it is a gov't hospital that offers both private and public healthcare. not sure how the private aspect of it works, though, sorry.
 
There are lots of threads on this topic but I think the general consensus is that if you have private insurance and you are on the Island then go to the Matilda. I had my first baby there last year and it was a fantastic experience and would satisfy all the things you mentioned above. To maximise your chances of getting a room there I would recommend using an OB who is resident there and you need to book when you are 9 weeks pregnant (although the doctor's office should take care of this). I used Dr Doo and would highly recommend him if you are after a natural delivery.
 
carang said:
if money is not an object, i'd go for matilda. but i don't think it is you who books the bed, rather your doctor, so forget hospitals and find a doctor ASAP.

QMH is different, it is a gov't hospital that offers both private and public healthcare. not sure how the private aspect of it works, though, sorry.
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totally agree.
QMH has good doctors but the private care could cost a mint without insurance. They would ask you to sign a form to switch over to their public care and once committed, it could be difficult to switch back.
 
she has insurance, what she needs to find out is which hospitals accept her insurance cover...it is NEVER difficult to switch to private from public... are you kidding? think of the $$$ the hospital stands to gain from you...
 
Hi - find out exactly what your insurance covers. Some private hospital charges will be over HK$100,000. You generally cant choose a hospital as you have to choose an obs. Each obs is assigned a hospital. So if you obs practices out of Matilda then thats the hospital you will go too.
 
Thank you, all! I will find out what my insurance covers! and I do have an obs, so that should work out fine.
However I need to be able to make my own choices and ask the right questions, so I need information haha!

Did you visit the hospitals before you decided to book there? if yes, how does that work?

Thnx!
 
no, not ever ob can deliver at every hospital.

you can:

1)first find the ob that you like, THEN you ask which hospitals they deliver at, THEN you ask them to book you into the hospital that you like. but you have to hurry because the hospitals book up VERY fast!

or
2)find the hospital you like,THEN find a doctor that can deliver there, then have them book you into a hospital.


i have NEVER heard a bad thing about matilda in all my years on this site.
 
hi dalihk,

first of all congrats! ;) very exciting time! the only reservation about matilda is if you have a problem pregnancy...i'm not trying to jinx you...please don't get me wrong at all! but, if all goes well, matilda is great for the mother - the midwives are great! the rooms are excellent and the care is exceptional! unfortunately if something goes really wrong with the labour ( my daughter had meconium aspiration and was in ICU for 10days - delivery at Matilda, but transfered to QMH) then they do not have the sophisticated equipment as they do at QMH. it's just another thing to consider...nobody ever told me this when I asked about matilda (guess cases like mine are in the minority) but I think it is important to know when choosing your hospital. with my 2nd baby now, I'm delivering at QMH private section. i believe the cost is 48K..which I believe is comparable to other private hospitals...i'd go with the doctor you trust rather than the hospital, personally speaking, because i didn't have my own doctor there for my delivery (as i was early and my own doctor was on holiday) and instead had a substitute doctor...anyhow, it's just my experience! good luck with everything! :)
 
I had my first baby at Matilda and will be returning there shortly for number two. It is certainly a nice experience and I was very pleased with my doctor and paediatrician. I would say though that I found the maternity ward was very busy and at times it was difficult to get attention from the staff. At the price which you pay to be there it was a bit disappointing. I have heard the same from a couple of other people as well. During the labour the midwife was excellent, it was more in the days afterwards where I sometimes felt that they didn't have time to help.
 
I had a private room at Matilda first time around and the midwives and general service was great. Not sure if this was because I was a first timer or because I was in a private room. Second time around (in Jan this year) I was in a semi private room at Matilda (2 beds) definitely not the same experience as having a private room but our insurance this time around would not cover the cost of the private room. I did feel as if I did not get the same help second time around - maybe because I was a second timer and the staff felt like you knew what you were doing. Still, it was good and I was pleased I was there but it is different second time around, I was ready to get home to my toddler and get the newborn established in a routine. First time around, I didn't want to leave the hospital!!
 
Hi DaliHK,

I delivered my baby in Matilda and had a good experience. It was a natural delivery with my husband present. The private room was nice, and the service was decent. I got lots of help with breast-feading afterwards as they're quite serious about it there. They let my newborn stay with me for as long as I wanted (they even "forced" my baby to stay with me one night coz he was crying and waking up other babies in the nursery).

I did visit the maternity wards before deciding so you should just call them and make an appointment. My OBGYN doesn't work in Matilda but there's no problem for him to book Matilda for me and later on delivered my baby there. Actually, many famous private OBGYNs in Hong Kong can deliver in most of the private hospitals so you should just confirm with your OBGYN ASAP.

Good luck!
 
Although overpriced, I think Matilda would fit the criteria you set out (natural delivery, my partner present, help with breast-feading and my newborn with me as much as possible).
 
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