Public Hospital (Queen Elizabeth) Queries

[HK Foodie]

I am delivering at QEH in June & have a few queries about what to pack & the experience itself. I am aware of all the essentials & thanks to some previous threads I am aware of those extras necessary for delivering at a public hospital but not exactly sure what they all are!!
This is my 3rd babe but 1st in HK. I had my previous babes in Australia in the private system so I'm not sure about some of the things I am supposed to take to the hospital.

1. What is a receiving cloth?
2. Do they provide a hospital gown for the delivery or should I take an old shirt that can get messy?
3. The maternity pads they request apparently require a bandage. Can anyone extrapolate on this for me? I was planning to buy maternity pads while in Australia at Easter which I know are heavy duty but will they allow me these or can I just be forceful & tell them that is what I am wearing?
4. What are underpads? (I am assuming a form of a liner for the bed?)
5. Can I request a western/European diet at the hospital? If so, how/when do I do this?
6. Does anyone know if any restaurants (even Pizza Hut would be ok) deliver to QEH?
7. I would love any recent info on delivering at QEH as I have trawled this site & any info is now about 5 years old (maybe things haven't changed?).

I really appreciate any help/advice that you can give me as despite this being my 3rd babe I am starting to have some teary moments at the thought of delivering at a public hospital (bit precious I know!:tongue.

Thank you :smile:

 

[carang]

1) a blanket in which to wrap baby
2) they provide gowns
3) buy the kind that they request, usually they are available directly at the hospital. save your luggage allowance for better stuff than maternity pads
4) yes, a padded bed liner
5 & 6) yes, you can request western food (i believe) but it's still horrible. for food delivery, you would have to canvass the area to see who would deliver. i'm sure there must be a pizza hut, possibly a KFC etc that would deliver
7) no idea, sorry

 

[JayJay]

Food deliveries are a no-no. Not sure if they're allowed during visiting hours. But even then, the nurses would certainly not allow the delivery men into the wards. You'll probably still have to walk out to the ward entrance.

 

[carang]

food deliveries are no problem at least as QMH. the delivery men canNOT come into the ward. they CAN come to the floor and wait near the lifts.

i was hospitalised for total of about 3 months over 2 pregnancies. i would have starved if not for soho delivers.

as a matter of fact, i used to order pizza and because i didn't have access to a fridge, i'd share it with the nurses. they loved me!

 

[JayJay]

I guess QMH is different from QEH in their food delivery policy. I recall the nurses at QEH specifically said no food deliveries because they don't have the manpower to care for all the patients and be on the lookout for deliveries, which I completely understand.

But I suppose rules can be bent sometimes. Guess the key is to just be nice to the nurses.

 

[carang]

as i said, i made the phone calls. i asked the delivery company to call me when the food arrived and i just left the ward and went to the lift lobby to pick it up. never had a single issue. the nurses had nothing to do with it. they wouldn't even have known that i had done it until after i received the food.

 

[blessed]

Hi HK Foodie... i delivered at QMH in Sep 2010 and had really good experience there... we answered another thread recently regarding packing for QMH and here's the link:
http://www.geobaby.com/forum/thread157981.html

as mentioned by Carang, just buy the maternity pads and bed liners at the 7-11 when you get to the hospital, they have their preferred brands there so don't waste your space / time to look for them else where. just get one pack each to be used when you are in the hospital, then switch you whatever your preferred brand is when you return home.

clothing is provided for the mommie ward (pink pj) as well as delivery (purple gown), baby gets a little wrap and is changed daily when being bath by the nurses. of course you can ask for change of clothes for you and baby anytime in case its soiled.

re food... i was in a private room so the meals were different from the ward, we got to choose our preferred items for each meal (there were choice of Chinese and Western items) and my husband who was staying in with me also had the same meals... he is a more picky eater than i am and we both thought it was delicious =) not sure about meal request for the ward though... there is a starbucks at QMH and fast food canteen if you are desperate.

don't think much has changed in the past year, had 3 other friends delivered at QMH (both private room or ward) and all experience seem very similar.

all the best!

 

[blessed]

oops sorry... just realize you are asking for Queen Elizabeth... sorry for providing info re my experience at Queen Mary

 

[carang]

i think the food for the wards is vastly different to the food in the private rooms... hence, some of the difference in price.

all of the food in the wards seemed to come with some sort of gooey, slimey sauce... including their 'sweet and sour sausage' which was in actual fact, 'sweet and sour hot dogs/frankfurters'... YUCK! to say the least. often the only thing i could eat from the tray, besides the fruit, was the boiled cabbage that seemed to come with every meal.

needless to say, hubby's main job throughout my hospitalisations was keeping me fed! he always brought food for me and usually for lunch, i'd go down to the public cafeteria and have bbq pork rice, which was pretty good most of the time.

 

[prof306]

Hey,

I delivered in QE in September 2010. I have a good experience overall (it's not their fault the delivery didn't go well). The only problem I had was that I found it very difficult to rest after an exausting labor. Even though it was a room of 6 beds only, we could hear babies crying in other rooms and they kept on waking me during the day to give me medecine or check on me. So one thing I recommand is an eye mask. Best thing I brought there! The level of care was very good and the nurses very nice, just really busy.
Don't worry about coming with the wrong things because they will provide almost everything if you forgot it or got the wrong one. The only exception seems to be newborn nappies, bring that with you.
For the food, yes, it wasn't good but I only stayed 3 days and my husband brought me cookies and muffins to cheer me up
If you have any more questions, you can send me a private message. Good luck!