Need hospital help!

[nicolejoy]

I know - that's HK... my younger daughter has lots of medical needs and we are at Queen Mary (and also PY and Duchess of Kent Children's hospital) aaalllllll the time. There are things I love, things I hate, and things that are so 1970's about the whole hospital system here... but it is what it is.

 

[lalligirl]

i had a good experience at queen mary - didn't get to hospital until around 8cm dialated (which suited me fine!), so straight into the delivery room. the only time my husband and i were separated was the first 15 mins or so, when they were checking me & he was filling out the admission stuff. they were very thorough about reading my birth plan, and i (from hazy memory...) got pretty much everything i asked for. the only thing i didn't like was being strapped to the monitor so that I wasn't free to move around, but they even unhooked me from that after a while. when they were satisfied that everything was progressing smoothly, they left my hubby & i alone in the delivery room, & even dimmed the lights for us (something that was on my birth plan, but i had completely forgotten about!). on the downside, they prefer the feet up in stirrups method of delivery & although they were willing for me to try different positions, they weren't very encouraging of it & in the end i just went with their way.

someone earlier mentioned that babies only room in in the private rooms, but when i was there babies roomed in on the public ward, too (or i should say cubicled-in!). this was three years ago, so maybe it's changed.

from what i understand, your experience at qmh is very dependent on the staff that happen to be there at the time..& possibly how prepared you are (and how prepared you are to insist on what you want).

 

[TheQuasimother]

Tasha2303, there are many private hospital options. So even if you didn't get into Adventist or Sanatorium, try Canossa too. There's also St. Paul's. Baptist, St. Theresa, Tsuen Wan Adventist and private wards at public hospitals not yet mentioned also includes Queen Elizabeth.

Otherwise, you can insist that you get discharged as soon as the doctor has given you the 'all clear' sign and hire a private midwife (which always assists with the doctor's decision at a public hospital).

Good Luck!

 

[Tasha2303]

Thanks Lalligirl and The Quasimother some really helpful info : )

 

[nicolejoy]

Tasha - IF you want the baby to room in, then you either a) need to get into Matilda, or b) get a private room at some of those other private hospitals. Some of the private hospitals have VERY strict policies on the baby not being able to room in and refuse to allow the baby to stay with the mother, particularly overnight. From my understanding, if you have a private room, they will allow it, but in a shared room they will not in case your baby wakes someone else. At the public hospitals, they allow the baby to room in 24/7. If rooming in is important to you, be careful to check those policies before booking a hospital so to avoid disappointment.

 

[charade]

At QM, if you go private, you can book the private room in advance, do private antenatal appointments and have the baby rooming in and hubby stay over. Cost is not an issue with you but it would work out cheaper than a private room in a private hospital but on par with a ward stay in some of the less expensive private hospitals. This is according to a mum who delivered there last year.

My understanding is that at Pamela Youde you can only get a private room if it's available when you go there once labour starts and cannot book private in advance.

At Baptist (private), you can only have the baby bedside if you're in a private room. So yeah, check the policies of the private hospitals.

 

[meimeid]

I delivered at the private clinic of QMH last year and was very satisfied with it. You book in advance and you don't have to live in their catchment area. I registered at 32 weeks gestation, they still had a spot available, but it really depends on if their private doctors accept you. Make sure you go to J1 to enquire/register.

 

[claresaunders]

Hi, I am also thinking about QMH for our first baby as i've heard the medical service is the best in HK. But my concern is i am not able to see one good doctor throughout my pregency check up. Any suggestions who is good in QMH?

 

[kewpie]

That's correct, you don't get to choose your Dr when giving birth in the public system. My friend who gave birth at QMH said that midwives will deliver your baby and the Dr will attend only in an emergency.