Moving to HK in 2 weeks - 21 weeks pregnant, need hospital advice!
- Thread starter DonnaDE
- Start date
Another thing to be aware of is whether you want to breastfeed, as some private hospitals have practices that make it very difficult. St Teresa's is one of those hospitals. I met a midwife who worked there recently and she said you can't have the baby with you unless you have a private room (not guaranteed as depends on who else wants one) and have to put baby in the nursery and can only feed at set times every 4 hours eg 8am, 12pm etc and you have to go to the nursery to do it, so if for some reason you can t walk (say after a Caesarian) then you can't breastfeed, they won't even let the dad bring the baby to you! May not be an issue for you, but so different from the UK thought I'd better make you aware of it. Likewise overall Caesarian rate pretty high here, so if you have a preference to avoid one, make sure you ask your ob what their rate is if you decide to go private. Many of them have rates of 75% or higher. Not an issue in the public system unless you want a Caesar which is not possible without a medical reason, ie like the UK you can't just decide you want one! Hope this is useful, if you do a search you can find more information on both these issues.
Wow, 75% C-section rates, that's insane!! Well, definitely will be asking a lot of questions when I arrive - thanks for the heads up though as I definitely want to breast feed and I definitely don't want a C-section. I'm considering going the public route as a private patient and perhaps using Annerley's Best of Both package (if BUPA cover it) - I'm going to call Annerley when I arrive in HK and arrange a consultation with them to sit down and discuss all my options. Do you know what the breastfeeding policy is in the public system? Also, do you know if can you keep your baby with you in the public system?
I had my son in a public hospital and I was allowed to keep him with me the whole time. So I breastfed on demand. Staff werent happy about it, they prefered to keep babies in the nursery apart from feeding times and visiting hours, but they let me have him. They thought I was weird though.
About the c-section rate, a lot of Hong Kong women seem to prefer a c-section. So I don't think the 75% rate can be attributed entirely to the doctors. I saw three ob/gyns over 2 pregnancies and all respected my preference to not have a c-sec unless necessary. In the public system, you can be absolutely sure that their policy is pro-standard-vaginal-delivery and pro-breastfeeding. However, if there are complications, like in my case breech position, or having earlier had a c-sec, they will lay out the possibilities and ask you to choose. I assume private-in-public-hospital would have similar policies.
About breastfeeding in public hospitals, while overall pro-breastfeeding, the practices may differ slightly where you deliver. I've heard mums who delivered at Queen Mary almost unanimously saying they had the baby at bedside from the start. I delivered at United Christian (same as Aquarian I think) and my experience varied between my kids. For my first, after a standard-vaginal-delivery, my son was mostly in the nursery for the first day with us encouraged to breastfeed on a four-hour schedule and at my bedside thereafter (which i frankly found very tiring, since my son was probably hungry and refused to sleep and I refused to give him any formula). For my second, after a c-sec she was in special care unit for a day (due to a pre-diagnosed kidney condition) and once she came up to the nursery, they encouraged me to keep her at my bedside and breastfeed on demand thereafter.
If you're in a private room, I suspect they'll be happy to let you have the baby at bedside. In the wards, I suspect their policies take into account by other factors like scheduling bathtime, pediatricians rounds and letting the other mums in the wards rest.
About breastfeeding in public hospitals, while overall pro-breastfeeding, the practices may differ slightly where you deliver. I've heard mums who delivered at Queen Mary almost unanimously saying they had the baby at bedside from the start. I delivered at United Christian (same as Aquarian I think) and my experience varied between my kids. For my first, after a standard-vaginal-delivery, my son was mostly in the nursery for the first day with us encouraged to breastfeed on a four-hour schedule and at my bedside thereafter (which i frankly found very tiring, since my son was probably hungry and refused to sleep and I refused to give him any formula). For my second, after a c-sec she was in special care unit for a day (due to a pre-diagnosed kidney condition) and once she came up to the nursery, they encouraged me to keep her at my bedside and breastfeed on demand thereafter.
If you're in a private room, I suspect they'll be happy to let you have the baby at bedside. In the wards, I suspect their policies take into account by other factors like scheduling bathtime, pediatricians rounds and letting the other mums in the wards rest.
Sweetblueberry
Registered User
My ob also told us that each private dr has a quota with their affiliated hospitals.
if you are considering cord blood or cord tissue banking -- this is ONLY possible through private hospitals. The public hospitals will only do this if you have an immediate need to save the life of an older sibling or family member. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about this... we did extensive research on this topic and met with all the banks and have extensive documentation on how each company works.
if you are considering cord blood or cord tissue banking -- this is ONLY possible through private hospitals. The public hospitals will only do this if you have an immediate need to save the life of an older sibling or family member. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about this... we did extensive research on this topic and met with all the banks and have extensive documentation on how each company works.
The high C-section rate is high partly because of some unscrupulous private doctors, but mostly because of local moms. (I say this as someone from a local HK family)
I don't want to get into the whole thing here, but there's all sorts of mis-information about labor, fears of pain, the (wrong) assumption that natural birth is more dangerous, superstitions, etc. So the rate is high at private hospitals mostly because patients ask for it. There are some cultural oddities, too, like parents who want their babies born on an auspicious date.
I briefly saw an ob/gyn with my first baby, who was awfully pro- C-section, so I switched. My second ob/gyn, whom I've used for 2 pregnancies, is private but pro-natural. He's a local Cantonese guy with a mostly local clientele -- and is very much for natural birth and breastfeeding. So just find the doctor who is right for you.
I don't want to get into the whole thing here, but there's all sorts of mis-information about labor, fears of pain, the (wrong) assumption that natural birth is more dangerous, superstitions, etc. So the rate is high at private hospitals mostly because patients ask for it. There are some cultural oddities, too, like parents who want their babies born on an auspicious date.
I briefly saw an ob/gyn with my first baby, who was awfully pro- C-section, so I switched. My second ob/gyn, whom I've used for 2 pregnancies, is private but pro-natural. He's a local Cantonese guy with a mostly local clientele -- and is very much for natural birth and breastfeeding. So just find the doctor who is right for you.