Change doc after booking hospital bed?

[ayzeng]

Hi,

I'm in my 7th week and will be going for my first check up. However I'd like to see a couple of OBs before I decide on my doctor. Since you need to book a hospital bed by the starting of week 9, especially for popular places like Matilda, can I book the hospital with this first doctor I see but may change doc later? Does the hospital booking change if I switched doctors later? I'm a little confused about this process. Thanks for your help!

 

[AussieMum]

Hi Olympicmom. I changed doctors at 28 weeks and I was told it is easier to change doctors once you have actually secured a bed somewhere. The bed will be in your name, not your ob's, so I think it is pretty straight forward. If you elect to change Obs though, you (or your new Ob) will have to notify the hospital just so their records are updated. For me I did nothing but notify my old Ob that I had decided to change (our of courtesy), and my new Ob phoned the hospital to advise them accordingly. Just so you know, my booking was with Matilda so not sure if this is the case for all hospitals. Good luck.

 

[ayzeng]

Thanks a lot AussieMum! This makes sense to me, but wanted to confirm that the bed will be under my name, not under ob's. Really appreciate the quick response.

 

[ayzeng]

I actually have a follow up question. Do different doctors have different leverages on booking hospital beds? Or as long as they deliver at that hospital, then my chance of booking a hospital bed is the same with all the docs? Just wondering if the less popular doctors have the same ability to help me to book a hospital bed. Thanks again!

 

[smile-ss]

I have asked the same question to Matilda when I had a tour there at my week 6. They told me I am free to change doctors if I got a space in Matilda because the booking belongs to me. Changing doctors won't affect my confirmed booking. Another thing is the blood test for the hospital booking which costs me HK$3500 in my case. You should do the blood test with the doctor who is going to submit your application to Matilda. If you change your doctor before this procedure you will need to pay for another blood test with the new doctor. So you could actually see more doctors AFTER your application is submitted, or after you received the booking confirmation from Matilda.

I've made a reservation through my OB at week 8 and got the confirmation from Matilda two days ago which is my week 10. I am very happy everything went smoothly so far.

 

[TheQuasimother]

Another thing is the blood test for the hospital booking which costs me HK$3500 in my case. You should do the blood test with the doctor who is going to submit your application to Matilda. If you change your doctor before this procedure you will need to pay for another blood test with the new doctor. So you could actually see more doctors AFTER your application is submitted, or after you received the booking confirmation from Matilda.

Hi. She's right. I changed our doctor after the clinic submitted the application and I received confirmation from Matilda. Matilda had no issues the change.

 

[ayzeng]

Does anyone know the following?

"Do different doctors have different leverages on booking hospital beds? Or as long as they deliver at that hospital, then my chance of booking a hospital bed is the same with all the docs? Just wondering if the less popular doctors have the same ability to help me to book a hospital bed."

Thanks again!

 

[LOJITT]

re some obs having more leverage than others, i would say "officially no, unofficially yes". the ones that do the most deliveries there can pull in more favours/ juggle things for you to get you in.

Lucy Lord and Grace Cheung do about 33% of all deliveries at Matilda so they're quite a good place to start. I had Lucy- thought she was excellent.

Patrick Chan also does a lot up there but cant comment on him as never met him.

 

[TheQuasimother]

I think it's almost the case of if you're a resident doctor at Matilda, you're 'most likely' going to get your patient a bed. But there are limitations. If the hospital is full, it doesn't matter who your doctor is (even with a reserved spot) as you'd still get turn away. I heard that Matilda turned away 3 mothers last month to Queen Mary (Don't know if it's true). The month before they had to open a second wing and use an operating theatre as a birthing suite.

 

[LOJITT]

QM- you heard right about last month's space issues at Matilda. However, i think in those circumstances it's even more important to have an obs who is

a) well known at matilda
b) "assertive"

When M are "full" are turning some people away, you want to be the patient who gets squeezed in.