Rooming-In and I need some advice

T

Tini

Registered User
Hi there,

Is it common throughout HK that you can't room-in with your baby? I am shocked and totally devasted that I won't be able to room-in with my baby at the Union Hospital. Also I will be able to cuddle my baby for about 10mins before they take it away from me. I don't even know whether I am allowed to have it in my room if I cannot get up after the c-section. But bottle they routinely give within the first 24hrs after birth because they think the baby could starve. What kind of old fashioned regulations do they have at that hospital? Is is the same at QM and Matilda and other hopsitals? I am seriously considering going to a different hospital and spend my money there. I was thinking of QM but my mother-in-law thinks it's might be dirty and not good service.

I am so bummed out. I wish I was back in Europe or North America!
Thanks for listening.
Christin
 
Those are the points that really turned me off of Union. Not at all conducive to breastfeeding or bonding with your baby, and especially the baby`s father. Really crazy, is you ask me.
I never ended up having my baby in HK (had him in GZ) but from what I read here, there are other more lenient hospitals. Union is not one of them, and I will never go there. If you can change, I would, because I think if this is important to you, it could end up really ruining your experience. I really enjoyed having my baby in my room with me, and there was always lots of help if I needed it.
 
By the way, if you pay for a private room at Union, PLUS have a 24 hour private nurse/helper with you (that you supply, I believe) they let the baby room in with you. That is the only option at Union. I went over everything again and again with them, looking for loopholes.
QMH sounds like a great place to have a baby, if you live in their district.
 
I live in Tai Wai, and I was told that Union is a good hospital but after having met my OB 3 times now I don't feel comfortable with him. He started an argument yesterday with me when I told him that I don't want my baby to be bottlefed after birth. He asked me if I want my baby to starve (?). No, of course I don't want my baby to starve but it's not neccessary to bottlefeed. They also don't encourage to latch on the baby right after birth. Funny, moms in Europe and North America are encouraged to latch the baby on as soon as possible. And he tells me that HK has the lowest rate of feotal mortality in the whole world. I really wonder whether UH does any research on bonding, breastfeeding, etc. I can't imagine having a wonderful experience at UH.
 
I don't know about Union, but I was at Adventist, and there the babies generally are in the nursery. However, I found I could keep my baby with me for just about as long as I wanted. One day I remember she was just chilling and we were having some good cuddle time so when the nurse came to get her I just told her I wasn't done feeding yet.

After a c-section, again at Adventist, I got a quick cuddle after she was out and cleaned up, but then they took her to the nursery to get fully cleaned up and bathed and all that. The main reason they get the baby out of the room is that the surgery room has to be kept cold, and babies need to be warm. I got to be with her again after about an hour and again I could keep her in my bed-space (was in a wardroom) for as long as i wanted.

I had full rooming in with my first child in the States and honestly both are fine. I like the option of being able to send the baby to the nursery so mom can sleep. After a birth, c-section or otherwise, you need your rest!

At Adventist they did not insist on giving the baby a bottle at any point. In fact when I decided she needed one they gave me a hard time because I'd said no bottles! HA!

I am pretty sure Matilda encourages rooming in. When I visited there there were almost no babies in the nursery.
 
I had a great experience at Matilda. They definitely encouraged latching soon after birth. My delivery was natural so there wasn't too much time between the delivery and when we were back up in our room for the first feed. Not sure exactly how it would work for c-sections, but I imagine the sort it out so that you can breastfeed as soon as you need to.

They are completely open to rooming-in but do encourage (though do not require) you to let the baby stay in the nursery the first night. They then bring the baby to you and wake you up to feed, help you get the latch right etc. Great breastfeeding support all around.
 
Hi Tini, Just replied to your PM and saw this post.

Shenzhennifer is right. If you have a private room you are allowed to room-in with your baby. They did not tell me that I need to have a 24 hour private nurse/helper. But they knew that my mother/husband was there with me during the whole time I was at the hospital.

I had a private room when delivering there last year May. I breastfed but was not able to do it right after my c-section. As a first time mother, not knowing what to expect and wanting make sure that my baby is fed, I let them to have him in the nursery while I was recovering. I only could get out of bed to go to the nursery to try feeding him the second day afternoon.

But the nurse there did encourage me to room in with the baby to start breastfeeding and build up my supply.

You probably could push for it after delivery. If you are not sure, I probably would suggest you to change your Ob and all together your hospital.
 
I know for me personally, rooming in and breastfeeding soon after birth are important to me. I would only ever give birth at Matilda (if I could justify paying out of pocket) or going to the public hospitals. It's "funny" but the public hospitals seem to be much better about rooming in and breastfeeding straight after birth - although they may not have the best lactation consultants. I had my daughter at QMH and the only "issue" is that she had to be in the Special Care ward for the first 12-15 hrs... but even there, I told them not to bottle feed her and I was able to breastfeed. They did give her one bottle though because the nurse happened to tell them AFTER they already fed her a bottle. But other than that, they were mostly pretty good about it... definitely better about rooming in and breastfeeding than MOST of the private hospitals here!! I've booked at Pamela Youde for my second, I've heard good things about it so far and I'm looking forward to it, even more so than Queen Mary.
 
I had my second child by caesarean at Matilda (first child born overseas), and found it excellent in terms of breastfeeding friendly policies. Baby was given to me straight after delivery for an extended period (maybe half an hour?) of skin to skin contact while we were still in surgery (i.e. before she was "cleaned up" a little, not bathed) and when it was gently suggested to me that she could go to be wiped down a little, my husband was encouraged to go along. We would all have met up again in my room a mere 10 minutes later, and then I was immediately assisted (needed a bit of help as still hard to move from epidural!) to have a first very long (about one hour) breastfeed.

If you want to room in 24/7 with your baby, policy at Matilda is you must have a private room. Then it is totally up to you how long the baby is with you. The midwives are excellent in terms of practical breastfeeding support. The first night I did avail myself of letting the midwife take my daughter to the Nursery after a feed in the middle of the night (I had complications with the epidural so required some extra care myself), but the process of deciding that and laying down parameters I was happy with (i.e. please bring her back as soon as she wakes, or no longer than 4 hours, and absolutely no formula or water) was carefully agreed on by both the midwife and I and she followed it to the letter.

So I would say Matilda is completely different in that respect to the stunningly old hospital practices described! Matilda don't advocate at all getting in the way of initiating breastfeeding (and no bottles!)

By the way, I am also totally appalled at the OB commenting on bottle feeding the baby! He needs to be told in no uncertain terms that actually the postnatal baby treatment is absolutely none of his business or responsibility. It is the paediatrician who consults from birth. I would strongly advocate letting him know where his boundaries of care lie. Problem is, for a c-section you will need a paed in attendance, and most OBs team up with a paed they work with frequently - chances are his paediatric counterpart thinks the same way he does. But you have the right to choose your own paediatrician and arrange them to attend. It takes more coordination on your part, but it is possible.

I did exactly this myself, as I was very keen to have a non-interventionist paed - no bottle where possible! - and I knew I would deliver an early and slightly smaller baby, so realised that would freak most HK paeds into the "better supplment" mode. I researched, chose a paed and visited him while in my third trimester to discuss the background to my first child (very prem) and what was happening with the current pregnancy. We agreed on parameters, he agreed to support my strong desire to exclusive BF (it is his usual preference) and I agreed that of course if baby was a little too early or too small we would go to various steps accordingly. Highly recommend selecting and visiting your own paed if you are worried. Mine was delighted that I had taken the time to consult him in advance.

Hope that helps, best of luck.
 
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