Safe to get pregnant in HK?

[artistinhk]

OK, so maybe not politically correct, but, we are lucky enough to know that we are extremely fertile and the discussion has been started about little person 2.
But is it safe in HK? With all the chemicals in the air, I/we wonder if we are giving our child the best start if they are conceived and carried to term in such a polluted environment.
I know there are lots of babies that appear healthy out there and I am sticking my neck out asking.... but will they be healthy long term?
Has anyone else had this conversation prior to conception?

 

[reei]

never had this conversation but i am sure hk is a safe place. don't worry.

 

[carang]

i think that all of us worry about the long term health of our children...
but, would living in hk STOP me from having my kids??? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!

i don't think that HK is much worse than many big cities around the world. i have two VERY healthy kids. one is 2.5 and the other is 6 months. both were conceived here and born here. their father is local and has lived here all of his life. he is a VERY healthy person, even though he doesn't go out of his way for it. he doesn't take vitamins, eats local fare, doesn't get as much sleep as he needs etc.

there are more cases of asthma, i believe, and possibly eczema, but really i don't think it should be such a consideration at this point... maybe once the little one is born, you may decide to move out of HK or at least to a less polluted area.

good luck!

 

[artistinhk]

Thanks for the replies. Carang, I am sure you are correct, maybe its our excuse for cold feet. Our little man (nearly 3) is just such a great character, healthy, easy going etc... that it is hard to imagine ever being able to have another kid as fantastic.

Wow I sound besotted... and I dont even look after him fulltime (dad does). He was born in NZ and everything was so easy, so healthy and quite accessible, I love Hong Kong but cant imagine it being so easy here. And well, I lived on fresh fish when I was pregnant in NZ (the Omega 3 oils are meant to be great for development.)
Over here we arent so keen on trusting the local fish produce, my diet here in HK is so very different, I do wonder if we should wait.

 

[carang]

i would be thinking more of the age difference, the education system, the distance from family more than the "safeness" of hk....

 

[mommy sara]

If you are really concerned about pollution, food safety, etc. here, there are things you can do even if you aren't trying to concieve. You can get an IQ Air Purifier, eat organic, eat things shiped in, etc. Also, I've only heard wonderful things about Matilda Hopsital. Good luck!

 

[carang]

PS. i think that every parent fears that they couldn't possibly love their 2nd, 3rd, 4th....child as much as their first... but that's the funny thing about love, you never run out and your heart and the amount that you love only gets greater!!!

(i, too, worried that i might not love my second as much as my first absolutely awesome son! but my daughter, although completely different, still lights up my life in ways i never thought possible... and she's only 6 months old!)

 

[josoo]

How do you think us locals grew up? A lot of kids are born everyday and they have so little - they wouldn't even know where to start, let alone buy organic food and an IQ Air Purifier.

Do you know what those families are like that live in Govt. Estates? They don't have SPACE, they don't have a maid, sometimes their kids can't afford university and are pushed to work right out of high school. I don't think everyone has our luxuries!

Maybe you shouldn't even LIVE in HK if you are so concerned. Breathing the air may be dangerous, the heat might give you a heat stroke when you are pregnant, the water you drink might posion you, you might get run over by a bus tomorrow? The list can endless.
Half the stress is the worry itself...kids are born all over the world.

 

[aussiegal]

I find this a weird post and a little insulting - ok, a lot insulting:haha: . Are we all bad mothers for having children here? Are our children less wonderful, less intelligent, less lovable because of it?

The pollution in HK is not great but you can choose to live in areas where it isn't so bad. We buy all our fruit, veg, meat etc from Australia and other countries with better quality control - I'm sure you can get your NZ fish though you might care to know that too much fish during pregnancy has shown to be a bad thing.

But most perplexing is that you worry about what living in HK would do to the health of your unborn (and not yet conceived) but don't seem to worry about the health of your son. He's already breathing the air in and chances are he WILL get allergies and he WILL be sicker a lot more often than he would be if you stayed in NZ.

 

[josoo]

Can't agree more! Wake up and smell the flowers for crying out loud? Its actually sad that you think "our country" is so dirty that you shouldn't breed here. Do you live in the dark ages or maybe in a cave?