Pregnancy Costs

[rani]

How much does it cost to have a baby in HK?

One of the first questions that pops into everyone's mind once they find out they're :baby:

Here's a breakdown of what we spent:

Prenatal Care (consultations, u/s, 4D scan, blood work) - $19K
Private Room Adventist - $27K
Normal Delivery Dr's Fee's - $21K
Epidural - $4K
Anesthetist Epidural -$16K
Miscellanous Meds - $2K

Pediatrician - $5K

Total: $94K (Thank god for insurance)

What about you?

Rani

 

[Lipe]

elective c-section

Unfortunately, my baby was breach and I had to have an elective c-section at Matilda.
Hospital charges: $ 48k (private room + one x-ray for the baby)
Doctors:
Dr. Gosh (obst.): 51k, including pre-natal visits, tests, etc and delivery (we had just one bill from him at the end).
Dr. Thondup (pediatrician): $ 8k
Dr. Aik (anesthesiologist): $ 8k
Total: $ 119k (agree, insurance is everything here)

PS: Rani, have you had a normal delivery?

 

[rani]

Oops, I forgot to mention I had a natural delivery.

Rani

 

[mack]

These are insane amounts of money!
For those of you without insurance...

Dr. Gosh pre-natal visits & tests - $10,000
Delivery at Queen Mary in public ward - $400

The cab fares to and from Pokfulam cost more than our entire hospital bill!

 

[simms]

Dear Rani

Please can you explain something to me, I'm so confused about these costs! As far as I can see, a private room at the adventist for normal (3 day) delivery is ~$27,000, with an epidural coming in at $4,500. I don't know what Dr Gosh charges, but my obs (Derek Lo) charges $20,000 for normal delivery... my mental arithmetic is not great, but I reckon this is $51,500.... so what is the extra $20K for?!!! After all, the Adventist brochure claims that the packages include 'everything'.... is this true? If you wouldn't mind posting a more detailed breakdown of the costs, that would be really helpful.

One more question.. does everyone need to see a paediatrician?

The reason for these questions is that our insurance is up to a certain amount.. any hidden costs are going to hit us hard!

 

[rani]

Simms,

I've updated my post above.

Just wanted to let you know that the Anesthetist fees are high cos we called him at the last minute, plus it was a Sunday!

To avoid any surprises best to get a quote from Dr Derek's Anesthetist too.

Rani

 

[suz]

oh remember that there may be other extras like if your baby is jaundiced, it may need phototherapy. I had my baby at the Sanatorium, and that was almost am extra HK$5k a day (equipment rental plus blood tests but pediatircian's visit etc etc etc)

Most of my friends end up paying HK45-55K for normal deliveries at the Adventists.

 

[rani]

Simms,

Yes, most hospitals require that you have a Paediatrician.

You should check if your insurance covers the baby as well. I was insured with William Russell and newborns are 100% covered for the first 28 days under the mother's policy.

Rani

 

[simms]

Thanks for the info - the anaethestists fees are the shock for me - I had thought they were included in the $4,500 (can the drugs really cost this much?!), so will investigate further (including grilling of insurance company), but it looks like we'll be heading to QM!

Thanks again for your help, everyone

 

[shri]

Folks,

PLEASE make sure that your doctors rates are firm and will not vary depending on the type of room.

The quote for a delivery should be firm and should not vary between room type. Normally the obgyn will charge as much as 5 times more if they deliver and you have a private room. The hospitals condone and promote this practise and the last thing you need is a bill that bankrupts(!?) you.

Same applies to QM. Rates for certain items change depending on the type of room you are in.