I just found out my wife is pregnant. We are in the USA now, but will move to HK in May because I will work for a law firm there.
My wife is already not keen on having a baby in HK, but then my local HK Cantonese friend IMs me today in a panic because his wife will give birth in February, and he's read all these stories saying that Mainland women are clogging both the public AND private hospitals. The newspaper articles tell horror stories of women delivering babies by themselves in the hallway, and next to toilets.
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,117887,00.html
Is it as bad as that, or are the newspapers being overly salacious? My law firm will provide me with health coverage, so presumably I can afford a private hospital. According to this article though, even a private hospital will not be sufficient to shield my wife from the rif raf.
Should I arrange for her to stay behind in the States to have our first child, or maybe in Japan?
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Having given birth twice in Hong Kong, once in a public hospital, and once private, my wife will be able to tell you that your fears are unfounded. You will find in a public hospital perhaps poor bedside skills, but the facilities are excellent. Private hospitals are excellent - if pricey - but that is true of the US, is it not?
BTW, I would not call mainland women riff raff. We generally find that Americans in HK take some time to adjust to differing world values.
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How long ago did your wife give birth? Maybe the overcrowding is a recent phenomenon.
Yes, US hospitals are expensive. You wouldn't go to a public hospital here unless you were really desperate. Without insurance, a pregnancy will cost US$5,000 - 10,000. I am more than willing to spend that in cash to get the best treatment possible in HK.
Sorry if my elitist statement offended you. Don't take the piss though. I've lived all over the world, including China and the UK; I speak several languages and my wife is Japanese. The "ignorant yank" remark is as inaccurate as it is uncalled for.
I am willing to pay a premium to shield my wife from rif raf of any nationality.
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wow for a person who has lived all over the world it seeems that you've kept your ignorance/snob levels nice and high.
hmm.. maybe you and your wife should just stay in rif raf free US.
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The other posters have failed to realise you are a soon-to-be new dad and have all the anxiety that goes with that. It's a big decision to make but you can be assured that HK hospitals are among the best in the world.
Hong Kong hospitals are private or public. With a HK ID card you get good service at a public hospital at a nominal charge. This serves the majority of the HK public very well as many do not get private medical insurance from their employers nor can they afford private treatment which can rival the US in terms of cost.
There is a problem with heavily pregnant mothers from Mainland China coming to HK illegally to give birth, then leaving without paying. Currently it is estimated that 1 in 3 births in HK is to a mainland mother. It is a point of contention in HK as the problem is worsening. The public hospitals are obliged to provide treatment to these women who often arrive well into labour.
The media is playing this up, as most media do. And, of course, if you believed everything in the papers you would also believe that Saddam had WMD and we are all at risk from polonium-210 poisoning!
You will find that private hospitals require a deposit to be paid before admission; therefore limiting the number of riff raff on the premises, although I have to mention that having money does not mean a person is still not riff raff. A friend stayed in a semi-private ward (2 beds) in a private HK hospital and the other patient (and visitors) were not clear about the difference between a toilet and a shower cubicle.
You should also be aware that should the baby require special treatment at birth, it would need to be transferred to a public hospital. Private hospitals may be like five-star hotels here, but the public hospitals have the top-of-the-line, life-saving equipment.
Your best option, IMO, is to let your wife have the child where she has family support, be it the US or Japan, for that most difficult time after delivery.
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Sorry, to correct the above point, I don't believe that these women are coming to HK 'illegally' to give birth. They enter with valid travel documents, have a baby here (the majority paying the $20,000 the Hospital Authority charges non-ID card holders), and then return home. A lot of them have husbands here, as half of all marriages in HK are HK men to mainland women, so HK men are responsible for this situation (and possibly HK women too...). The majority of unpaid hospital bills are run up by local HKers, according to figures published in the SCMP over the last couple of weeks - the figures are generally distorted by showing the average debt per defaulter - HKers are charged a tiny fraction of what non-locals are, so of course the amounts per head are different. Even at $100 per day or less, a lot of people living here choose not to pay for medical treatment, but it is a measure of how good the health care system is here that they will still be treated, however often they do this. We're part of China now, let's face it. I'm perfectly happy to share my government hospital labour/post natal ward with whoever else needs to be there.
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I agree with what geiboyi says. Women from across the border who do come to give birth in HK have to get through two borders. I don't think they arrive at the border when labour is in progress and demand to be let through.
And yes, a lot of their children are fathered by HK men.
The orginal poster wanted to know abt private hospitals. i've yet to see people delivering babies in the corridors of Mathilda. I do beleive it's jsut the moneyed riffraff that gets in there anyways.
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Pregnant women can easily - and do - cross at Chung Ying Street in Sha Tau Kok. Some are arrested and returned. Most attempt to wait till labour has started as they know they will be sent to hospital in HK. They are here illegally and the police patrol the area looking for these women.
Some women will enter HK illegally when early on in their pregnancy (so it doesn't show) and stay with relatives/minders. They are here illegally. You can check Case MA 38/2002 as an example of a HK person being prosecuted for harbouring a illegal immigrant who was waiting to give birth.
Also there are the overstayers. They arrive legally early on in their pregnancies on visitor visa and overstay to give birth.
These women are here illegally to give birth. Perhaps if you do not think these women are here illegally, you could explain why not.
The tragedy is, of course, that these women do not receive proper pre- or post-natal care, putting themselves and their babies at risk. But you can't tell these women that their health and the health of their babies are not worth risking for an HK ID card as they believe it is.
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Claire: no one is saying that there are some illegal births in HK. Who knows why these women so desperate to get HK IDs for their children? It's hard to understand desperation when one isn't in that person's shoes.
But i don't think they happen too often in private hospitals.
No offense - but i'm surprised at your vehemence.
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TC
18 yrs ago
I'd highly recommend Matilda Hospital. Our daughter was born there 6 months ago and it was a wonderful experience. The comment about having to be transferred to one of the public hospitals anyway should a life-threatening emergency arise is true, though - always something to bear in mind but I wouldn't let that cloud your judgement. Frankly if we didn't have 100% health cover then we wouldn't have been able to afford Matilda, bit we did so the choice was easy in the end even though the hospital's location was rather remote from where we live. And even on that point if it is a REAL problem then Matilda has some apartments available so that you can be already there at the onset of labour. I suggest you plan for one of the private hospitals (our short list was Matilda and Adventist, and in the end one was clearly better for us) and inspect them when you get here. And another point well made above is the general lack of family support here that you will experience. Just something to consider - you might already have thought of it. Good luck.
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There are 2 main reasons for the mainland ladies to come to HK to give birth. The reason for the ones who can afford to pay the fee (HK$20K for public or HK$40+ for private depending on the kind of room you stay in) is they want better treatment, and the child will get a birth certificate in HK and he/she will have the right to live in here. While for the less fortunate, they can't afford the fee but they still want to give birth in HK, they wait until the last minute to come to HK (there was a news on a mainland lady giving birth on the train platform just a month ago) to limit the days they need to stay in the hosiptal; they give birth and then sneak out without paying. Why? Because again the child will have the right to live here and to receive benefit, as much as $3XXX a month. To many of us a couple thousand dollars is just a small amount of money, but for the poor families in China, it's a huge monthly income. I have read stories on this, after the delivery the parents leave the child in HK for relatives to look after and to receive the $3xxx allowance, which part of the money is sent back to China for the rest of the family.
Anyway, back to the original post. Though the private hosiptals are much more busier due to the increase number of mainland women giving birth in HK; but overall the service is very good and you just need to choose a good private hospital. I am sure if you go to Matilda or Adventist you will never have to worry about giving birth in the corridor! I myself just gave birth in Adventist Hospital in October and it was a very good experience. Just speak to your OB and book a room in advance and you will be fine.
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Our first child was born 2004 in Queen Mary hospital - public hospital part of the HA system. Second child born 2006 in Matilda. But I would agree - from the sounds of it, better to leave your wife to deliver in the US.
Both these hospitals were excellent, but whatever you do, do not let your wife give birth in a public hospital. You will hate it.
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Kali> There was no “vehemence” in my reply, I was merely correcting erroneous statements such as:
“I don't believe that these women are coming to HK 'illegally' to give birth. They enter with valid travel documents, have a baby here and then return home.”
and
“Women from across the border who do come to give birth in HK have to get through two borders. I don't think they arrive at the border when labour is in progress.. .”
I believe everyone in Hong Kong is well aware of Chung Ying Street where one part of the street is in Shenzhen and the other is in Hong Kong and that there is no border at this point. And this is why pregnant women slip through here to get to a HK hospital.
Again, if I am wrong in saying that women who arrive this way, or are visitor visa overstayers are not here illegally, then please correct me and give details. I do not take a correction as vehemence so perhaps this is why I do not expect others to mistake the two.
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How can you "book" a room at a hospital? not everyone goes into labour on their due date. And what would happen if the hospital was full up when you arrived? just saw on the news that one of the public hosiptals is not taking on any new maternity patients until may next year!
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Michelle_a_bella - sorry I was referring to having an elective C-section - of course u cannot book in advance if u're opting for a natural delivery.
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I am 13 weeks pregnant in Guangzhou and my husband is a Hong Kong citizen - so I guess that makes me Mainland riffraff too, ha ha! I thought about going back to the US to have the baby, but Guangzhou is "home" now and it's more important to me to be close to my husband than to my parents. You'll have to talk to your wife to see how she feels about it, but if she wants to do it in HK maybe you could look into having a midwife to provide support before and after the pregnancy. One link I found is http://www.amidwife.com/.
I'm also wondering how to choose an OB and hospital in HK - does anyone have recommendations? I'm officially a HK resident but not a permanent one, so I'm not sure whether that qualifies me for the public hospitals or not. My husband prefers a private hospital. So far I've only seen Matilda and Adventist - are they the best?
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one of the best hospitals is in the cyberport area...my sister just had 2 lovely twins...no issues, excellent facilities and healthcare...all at a price of course but obviously worth it.
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