Recent experience at Adventist hospital

[alibali]

I delivered at Adventist in March 2009 and compared to Queen Mary where I delivered baby#1, it was a good experience. I had an induced, but otherwise natural delivery. I do think the nurses were much more helpful, etc. before and during the delivery. After delivery, it was difficult to get a nurse via the call bell. Sometimes, I had to go into the hallway to track one down during the night. There seems to be a skeleton shift on duty at night. The nurses did bring baby to me for feedings, but it was often much longer than 2 hours between feedings during the night. I did complain about this, but it didn't seem to change anything. If you want to sit in a bathtub during your contractions, you need to go into the hallway to another room as the delivery rooms do not have bathtubs inside them (& you cannot do a water birth either!) I chose a semi-private room (2 beds), but it wasn't worth the money. I would advise booking either a private room or a ward room. The lady I shared the room with had visitors constantly from 7:30am until 9pm at night and they dominated the entire room around my curtain as well as the toilet! I left the hospital after one night as I wasn't getting much rest b/c of this. Also, the hospital only has "healthy food" so there was no caffeine (no sodas, coffee, etc) in the building, much to my husband's disappointment so bring a flask! Other than those things, the delivery was perfect (highly recommend Dr. Cora Ngai) and the delivery midwives were fantastic. Not so enthusiastic about the after care, but this was baby #2 and I was much more confident about breastfeeding, bathing, swadding, etc and how to take care of myself post- delivery. If having baby #1, I would recommend Matilda. If having baby #2+, then other hospitals (public/ private) would be ok b/c you know how to do it all...

 

[mumkd]

I delivered my daughter 8 months ago at Adventist, and I had GREAT experience there. From Labor until the last day after C-sec, the nurses were great, very caring and would sit and share all the info on how to breastfeed to nappy change, bathe , swadle and sleep. They would bring in the baby to my ward for breastfeed everytime I asked for. I would love to go there again when I have my second one.

Good Luck

 

[teresahui]

May I know why some people are put in the surgeon ward instead of maternity ward? is the hospital very full for ALL rooms? or it's just that you want particular type of room and it's full?

I am going to have c-section in Oct. Though I prefer to have semi-private room, I don't have much concern if they put me in general room or private if semi-private is not available. would that minimize the risk of putting me in surgeon ward? I would be very sad if I cannot see my baby until the next day.....

 

[AutoCAD]

I was in a similar situation - planned c-section in October of last year. I was put on the surgery ward because there were (apperently) no rooms available on the maternity ward - no private, semi-private or ward rooms (I think even the "deluxe" room was taken). I requested a ward room, but we would have absolutely taken any room that was offered on the maternity ward and we made that quite clear when we were admitted.
The hospital was quite busy while we were there, however my doctor had made the booking two or three weeks in advance, so they had plenty of advance notice that we were coming.

One of my biggest complaints is that each time we tried to discuss the situation (with admissions, nurses, head nurses, etc) we were told that, of course they would move me once a bed was available on the maternity ward. This story, unfortunately, changed throughout my stay - they needed to keep beds free for emergency cases, etc. By the 4th and 5th day, the maternity ward had almost completely cleared out, however, we were never offered to be moved. I left a day early, so by that time, it didn't really matter.

Because of the over-crowding, there were other issues - no space in the breastfeeding room, over-worked nurses. Overall, I had a horrible experience (on top of everything, they were doing heavy demolition on the 7th floor) and I hope you don't have to go through anything similar. Any other questions, feel free to PM me. Good luck.

 

[bonita]

Has anyone been in the HK Adventist since the H1N1 outbreak? Does it make it more difficult to see your baby? I'm booked for Nov 09.

 

[Carol C Brown]

My friend gave birth there last year , she had a c-section,she was booked for the standard room but when she get there,they only have the semi-private room available,as u know everything will be 150% more than the standard room,she end up having a v.big bill.
I can understand that happen if u are having natural birth ,but she booked that day ..dont understand how come they do not hold the bed for her ?

 

[teresahui]

Hi Nino, did they tell you all rooms were not available when you checked in or you only found out after your surgery? Thanks.

 

[AutoCAD]

They told us when they admitted me that there were no rooms. In retrospect, I would have tried to contact my doctor and try to reschedule the surgery (it was scheduled for 8.30 that morning). However, as a first time mom, I really didn't really know what to expect - and it was 6.00 am!

 

[teresahui]

Nino, I am really sorry to hear your experience. I would also be very sad if I needed to stay in the surgeon floor. I plan for c-section in the afternoon. Probably I need to check if i can check in a day earlier to occupy a bed first. Thanks for your sharing.

 

[thanka2]

When I complained about it, the nurse said to me why don't you keep your baby in your room 24 hours. I said what about changing nappy and swaddling the baby. She said I'll teach you and you can do it all on your own! What a mean nurse!

When I read this comment, I just thought that in the States where I gave birth, at a hospital that is very pro-breastfeeding (actually, they are pro whatever the mother wants--so if the mother is pro-breastfeeding they are pro-breastfeeding) the standard is that if you want to breastfeed exclusively right after the birth they request that you room-in with your baby. They will also keep your baby in the nursery for you but that means even if you ask that the baby be brought to you every two hours, that may or may not happen. And generally, new parents are taught right away how to swaddle their children and change a diaper so that by the time they leave the hospital (and for a lot of people that's within 24 hours of the birth) they will know how. It's really not very mean to ask the parents to room-in with the baby and begin to take care of the baby on their own. Now, maybe the nurse said these things in an unkind way, though and I totally believe that if you're paying others to do a service they should give you service with a smile.