Advise Needed - Queen Mary vs. Maltida with No Insurance

[howardcoombs]

What! 80,000HKD higher than what you thought??? Ok that is scary...

It may be scary but it happens a lot. Future parents should be aware of it and budget for it. If you are under insurance, check your limits carefully.

I've seen it happen in a few of types of situation:
1) normal delivery turns into an emergency c-section for many reasons; this will mean 3 day stay gets stretched into a 5 or 6 day (or more) stay and fees essentially double.

2) premie baby, jaundice or baby with infection all requiring incubator : this can cost anywhere from 5,000 - 15,000 per day depending on drugs and procedures required.

It is not at all unusual to hear of parents with bills approaching 200,000.

 

[Gracey]

We chose to deliver at a private hospital (Baptist) with a private room even though our insurance did not cover it, and we are not millionaires.

It was for the same reasons you had
* I really loved my doctor and wanted to be sure that he was the one seeing me through labor and birth.
* The private room allowed for rooming-in and early frequent breastfeeding. Though support at Baptist is not great.

I didn't do it for the decor of the room or the food!

 

[carang]

gracey, while you cannot choose your dr at a public hospital, they all have rooming in and are pro breastfeeding
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[howardcoombs]

Private hospital is a bit like Busines/FirstClass travel on an airplane.
Everyone would take it if someone else was paying the bill.

However, if we had to pay for it ourselves
- a certain portion of the population will gladly do it.
- a different portion would not be able to afford it.
- yet there is another very large portion that can afford it but will choose not to as there are better places to spend that money.

I clearly fall into the last one.

 

[nicolejoy]

I never had trouble getting an epidural in EITHER of my deliveries. In my first, I was induced and I was exhausted so I got it more for the exhaustion than for the pain. The pain was no where near unbearable. I asked for it once and they got it within half an hour or less.

In my 2nd, I was in more pain but what I found harder was that they INSISTED on having the continuous fetal monitoring because my daughter had a congenital condition (fair enough) - but due to that, I could only be in ONE position otherwise it wouldn't pick up her heartbeat. The pain wouldn't have been so bad, but not being able to move made it a LOT worse. I asked for an epidural and the nurse was dragging her feet. I started yelling at her (because it was becoming unbearable) and she managed to hurry it up a bit I got it within an hour of originally asking for it - but I was doing a whole lot of yelling at her in that time That particular nurse was awful though... thankfully her shift ended soon after and she was replaced with a nurse who was FAR nicer.

With my first, I had an episiotomy which was the most painful part of my recovery, but with my 2nd I decided to tear naturally and they allowed that, even though it was a vacuum-assisted delivery. I think that the vacuum caused me to tear more than I would have without it, but regardless, the healing process was much smoother than with my first. They DO listen to your requests at the public hospital, but you may need to be more demanding.

 

[charade]

gracey, while you cannot choose your dr at a public hospital, they all have rooming in and are pro breastfeeding
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In United Christian (public) there is no rooming-in at least for the first two nights. They are pro breastfeeding but insist on a schedule.

My epidural story: I was offered one and said I would like to try to go without but asked for a deadline by which time I could let them know. I was very clearly told within four hours of that time. I asked for one within that time frame. There was lots of hedging, I was begging for one by then, finally the doctor came in, rolled her eyes and said: "oh you're not in that much pain". (this is the least of my problems with her) I did not get the epidural. It is possible the anaesthetologist was tied up elsewhere, I am not the only one this happened to. So insisting doesn't always help. The powers that be decide.

There is always uncertainty in labour, but in the public system there is a little more because you have to be prepared for that fight to make yourself heard. Yes, if I had to, I would go through it again. The point is to decide how much one is willing to pay to not have to have that fight.

 

[carang]

is united christian run by the hospital authority? if so, my apologies. i didn't know there were different rules for different hospitals.

believe me, i agree that public hospitals have a lot of room for improvement. please don't get me wrong.

as has been said before, to each their own.

while i cannot fathom spending $100k on delivery, others can equally find my willingness to "put up and shut up" unfathomable.

you didn't get an epidural. i got one (emergency c-section) but it didn't "take" properly and i felt the entire procedure.... we all have "horror" stories (well, maybe not all of us).

 

[charade]

Yes, this is the mysterious thing about the Hospital Authority. United Christian is indeed part of HA. As is QEH, which has a much more iffy policy on letting fathers into the delivery room. Luckily my husband was allowed in at United Christian but even that was done in a very disorganised way.

Read about your epidural not taking and the attitude of the doctor on another thread. Hats off to you for going for round two after that experience!

 

[carang]

it's all good.... kids are now almost 5 and almost 7.... would not have done anything differently... except maybe asked for General Anesthesia the first go-round, had i known the epi wouldn't work!

anyway... as i said, for me, the $100k would not be worth it... for others, it is.

 

[bhav3011]

Hi -I am in the same dilemma- I cant console myself of best care and personal touch in QMH. Since i will be in so much pain which should not be heightened due to unavailability of time by nurses/hygiene or Language barrier(not a cantonese speaker). Also,Is it necessary to go to QMH for all their visits or is it ok to pop up straight on the delivery date since they make u wait for 4 hrs on every visit and a student sees u for 5 mins?? will the final care be better than current service?