Which Hospital to Choose?

[niahbear]

Hi,

We're planning our second child and to tell you the truth, it feels even more confusing the second time around. I gave birth at the Queen Mary with our first child and although everything went 'ok' I definitely want to go private this time. We now live in HK Gold Coast area so what are the hospital options? The costs are staggering! We're under Cathay coverage, which basically means we have to pay for it ourselves!!! Any good doctor packages or hospital packages anyone can recommend?

Any help is GREATLY appreciated!!!

 

[Ai li]

HI Niah,

:congrats:

I think I paid the lowest private prenatal consultation throughout my pregnancy.

I paid HK$450 per consultation including ultra sound scan. i think from what I have read in this forum, most pp are paying around HK600-HK$1200. (depending which doctors you are seeing)

My OB practises mainly at Kowloon or new Territories hospitals. He does both the Natural and C-section! If you would to ask me about the hospital, I would highly recommend Union Hospital in Tai wai (New Territories) just a station from Shatin.

Since I had a normal delivery and also not high risk, therefore I cant commend how good my OB was to deal with any high risk or any complications. :Butbut, I would really love to praise him for his bedside manner and also his patience. Besides, he gave me a lot of courages and confidence during my pregnancy. Guess the first time mom also worries too much right! :haha: HE WAS SO PATIENT WHENEVER WE VISITED HIM. No rush in his dictionary. My husband cant stop praising him whenever mentioning about giving birth'.

In fact, I recommended him to one of my friend, as she wanted to switched her OB. My friend is very glad that I have recommended my OB to her.

One more thing to praise him :haha:, he didnt charge me any unnesscery even though I was under full coverage of my insurance.

If you need more info, pls feel free to ask me.
:breastfed

 

[niahbear]

OB name?

Hi,

Thanks for your response. What is your OB name? Does he speak English well? This is where are my troubles began at the Queen Mary so this is very important to me. Anyway, sounds like you had very good experience, which is always great to hear! Is the Union Hospital private? Did they have a package or anything like that?

:flower:

 

[Ai li]

my OB name is Alexander Yip. I went to his medical clinic at TST. He has one at Shatin too. Yes, He speaks fluent english. In fact, the friend that i mentioned, she doesnt speak chinese too

However, the nurses in the clinnic doesnt speak good english. Understable, perhaps they have to repaet twice or 3 times.

Pregtige Medical Centre (TST branch)
Tel : 27221712.

yes, Union hospital is a private hospital. I am unsure they have any maternity package, as I went to Dr Yip for my 6th months check up once I arrived HK. And Dr Yip helped me to book the hospital that I like. Actually, my 1st appointment with Dr Yip was my 6th month pregnancy.

Pls feel free to ask me more! I have lots to share. Just that need to rush out for lunch now.
:yeah2

 

[carey]

Hi niahbear， I will deliver my first at the Union hospital. They do have packages. There is a prenatal check package that cost HK$ 8500. It includes no more than 12 times of check up and a number of tests. As for the delivery package, it ranges from 40,000 to 100,000 depending the type of delivery ( Natural vs. C-section) and types of room ( shared and private). With HK ID, you will get delivery package cheaper. ( I don't have HKID)

Check out their website for detailed charges. http://www.union.org/new/english/charges/charges_maternity.htm

My experience with them are good so far.

(I asked about Union through friends who gave birth there and ladies at this forum, such as Aili. and some others. They are all very helpful in helping me to make up my mind.

So, I did not go to any private clinic but go directly to Union hospital to see my Ob and then book my bed there for delivery.

I find the prenatal check package a good deal. The nurse who suggested me to opt for it said that you would get your money worth for going 7 times check.

I am 25 weeks and have been there four times now. I kind of figure that it would be another 4 to five times, or even more checking before delivery.

Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[Matty]

Niahbear, when choosing a private hospital make sure you check what their policies are before commiting to anything.

Union is a nice hospital, very plush and comfortable, but they do have a policy that babies stay in the nursery and cannot room with the mother.
I believe you need to go to the nursery to BF??

Just something to think about if that would be important to you.

 

[Ai li]

Thanks Matty for sharing this. I have totally forgotten about BF in Union Hospital

Yes, you have to proceed to the nursery room each time you do BF. However, If you are staying in private room, baby is allowed to be with you all the times. I guess this is their so called 'better service' for private room customer.

However, I did enjoy every much going to nursery room each time to BF for my baby even though I stayed in private room which I could ask the nurses there to deliver my baby to me each time upon feeding time or baby stays with all the time.

The reason why I liked it so much to go to nursery room for feeding was I could learn a lot from the BF session. All the BF moms were feeding their babies and the nurses were walking around us and checking if we're doing the right way inculding burping the babies Of course, questions were very welcome. (ops, I am unsure if nurses in the nursery room speak good English, as I didnt see any western mom there doing BF). One thing about Union hospital, is many Chinese looking moms seem like to stay at Union hospital. I am Malaysian Chinese by the way.

Changing station was there, which we could help ourself or get assistance from the nurses there. Actually, I ddint know how to change my baby's nappy the first time, and also failed the second time. I did great on the third time onwards. Haha...

Oh, one more thing to consider. Nursery room is located on 2nd floor, which all the semi-private, 4 sharing wards are. BUT, private rooms are located at 11th floor. Meaning you have to take the lift down to 2nd floor each feeding or the nurses there could push you (wheelchair) to second floor to do BF. But of course, you are welcome to have your baby in your room if you are staying in private room.

(The meal is so much better than other hospital in HK island in term of choice and quantity. I stayed at one of the hospital in HK side, the portion was too little that I had to order for one more portion each time like club sandwich. :-D. Howver, I did hear Matilda does serve good food too.

 

[carey]

Hi Aili, This is really helpful for me. I am due in early June. And I am considering BF too but I don't really know what is the right thing to do and knows nothing about changing the baby. So, I think I would also try to go down to the nursery room to feed as much as I can.

As far as I can tell, most of the nurses there speak enough English to get things done. I am Chinese but my husband can't understand Chinese. The nurses and doctors switch to English when they address to both of us. But, It might take some time to get used to the way they speak English ( mix with Hong Kong assent). But this is not a big deal for me.

I opted for the private room. The nurse told me that once I chose to have the private room, I can't change it to a type of room that is lower ( I think she means cheaper ) than it.

When I had the hospital tour in November 08, they showed me different types of private room. There are about four private rooms on the same level as the nursery room but the sales lady said because there are so few of them, they are likely to have been occupied and in that case, we would have to stay on the 11th floor private rooms.

From what I hear, Price wise, is pretty similar in most private hospitals on the Kowloon side. ( I know Matilda on Island side is very good but you pay more).

When I make up my mind about Union, I also considered the travel distance. Shatin is a lot closer for me than the Island.

Good luck Niahbear in finding the right hospital and with the rest of your pregnancy.

 

[Shenzhennifer]

I also really considered Union to deliver in (when I was thinking of doing it in HK - I ended up deciding on GZ).
I saw Dr. Ng a few times. I really liked him. His English was fluent, and his manner was very nice - he even got excited to see and explain the ultrasound of my son.
I didn`t choose Union mainly bc I decided on GZ since we live in SZ. BUT after my tour, I have to say I was really turned off with the fact that the babies have to stay in a nursery and then the hospital decides when they are all hungry (at the same time!). I was told that even if you get a private room, unless you had a 24 hr private nurse or midwife, the baby also could not stay in your room all the time. I ended up staying in the hospital for 6 days (5 days recovery from C-section) and if I didn`t have my baby with me, I would have felt just awful.
But as Ai Li said, the upside is that you can learn BF and diaper changing from the nurses and also other women there, so I think that is pretty valuable.
Another thing I hated was that the fathers could not meet with the baby. I think they could see them through glass at a prescribed time each day.
Overall, Union is very much a profitable business run by businesspeople. If it weren`t for doctors like Dr. Ng and the other one that people recommended it, I wouldn`t think twice about this place.
But the location is very good if you`re coming from Mainland.

By the way, if you are coming from mainland and are interested to hear about the hospital I had my baby at in GZ, please PM me. I had a really good experience there (despite having to have an unexpected C-section).

 

[niahbear]

Such great info!

Thanks for all of your comments so far. All of the information is quite helpful.

I'm not sure how I would feel having my child on the 2nd floor while I was on the 11th though to breastfeed. Will the nurses at Union bring your baby to you if you are not it a private room?

I'm Canadian and I'm a big fan of breastfeeding. One of the biggest things when I first started breastfeeding my first child, is that the sound of her cry would actually help my breastmilk to come in. When I was at the Queen Mary, she was in the nursery on the same floor. I could actually hear her from my bed and would know that it was time to try to feed her. However, it also meant that I didn't get much rest! But I was much too excited to care!

Anyway, here is something I would like to share with all new-to-be mothers who wish to BF:

When your baby is born they are NOT hungry! The trend here is to immediately begin giving them formula! This is only necessary if your milk is slow to come in. PLEASE!!! Insist on BF your infant as soon as you can! It took two days for my milk to fully come in and in that time I was able to produce colostrum. I insisted on having my baby brought back to me as soon as possible and I began trying to breastfeed within an hour of delivery! This was such a wonderful moment! (Notice that I said the word TRYING, it didn't happen right away, it took weeks for the two of us to learn how to BF)

Anyway, Colostrum is the key. This small amount of fluid is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT and I found it funny that the nurses thought that I should try to pump a bottle of it! It is only a small amount but it is packed with vitamins, antibodies, and everything your child needs during the first few days of life!

The nurses in some of the hospitals try to 'convince' you that you need to give your baby a bottle sized amount of formula within 12 hours of their birth or your child is going to suffer. This is just not helpful or true. Not only does this attitude cause you stress which in turn causes your milk to come in slowly BUT it makes you feel like you are a bad mother! Sometimes this process takes time but don't give up! Practice, practice, practice and no matter how frustrated you feel, know that it will happen, your body knows what to do!

Anyway, this is just my OPINION. Good luck to all of you!