Posted by
ahacha
18 yrs ago
Due to lack of insurance cover for the delivery (we just found out), I'm contemplating going to the Queen Mary Hospital for it.
This is to avoid going back to France and having the father missing out on precious time.
My -private- gynaecologist (probably annoyed to hear the bad news), said it is not nice and tells me I should back to France, where I'll be much more nicely treated.
As I don't intend to leave if I can avoid it, what are people's thoughts/knowledge on QMH, or other Government Hospitals on HK Island (I live on South Side)?
Any advice?
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had a great experience at queen mary - but you'll hear mixed results.
The standard of care, according to my father (OBGYN) is just as good as the US. I did have a straightforward, uncomplicated pregnancy though - so there wouldn't be much things to complain about.
Do I search on this page on Queen Mary hospital - you'll find a plethora of opinions and experiences. But note, EVERY hospital
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cbdc
18 yrs ago
having delivered at queen mary and at matilda, i feel i can list the pros and cons of the queen mary:
pros: you are in excellent hands if anything goes wrong with you or your child. queen mary has the best nicu unit in hong kong.
pros: it is close to your home.
pros: the level of english is quite reasonable
pros: you can bring in your own food.
pros: the nurses there are supportive of getting you started on breastfeeding if that is your wish.
pros: you can have your baby with you as much/little as you wish
cons: your husband can visit you for three hours per day. 12-1pm, 6-8pm
cons: in the case of an emergency caesarean, he is not allowed to be in the delivery theatre with you.
cons: the wards are not very private (despite the curtain separation), and can be noisy. so can the new born babies, television, or visitors.
the staff don't make you feel like you are a superhero, and have accomplished something really amazing, and (in my case) were not too supportive when the baby blues hit.
there are many old threads on this board regarding the queen mary, to get a better idea of the place, take a tour of the hospital and a read of those threads. good luck in your choice.
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This is all very very helpful!
Thank you very much!
I'll have a look at the old threads too.
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crj
18 yrs ago
Also, I believe you are not limited to the wards, you can pay for a semi-private or private room.
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I had both my babies at QMH and had very good experiences. Main problem is limited visiting hours for the dad, but at least you don't get dozen of visitors every day and you can rest. I was lucky my 2nd time around the ward was quite empty and I was by the window... That was actually one of my husband's mission upon admission, he had to get me a window bed !
I was much more prepared than the 1st time, had lots of food with me, and it was very nice.
For the 1st time, maybe you would like to feel a bit more special, and pampered, but you can actually get a semi-private or private room for a few thousands HKD.
The nurses are great and it is the best unit in the region for neonatology.
After that even if I had to choose I wouldn't try elsewhere, and definitely I wouldn't go back to France (and I'm French...), the most important too me, more than comfort or anything, was having my husband with me, and having qualified medical staff around me. Very supportive of Breastfeeding as well, but not to the point of making you guilty if you ask them to feed baby the 1st night because you are tired, you can even ask them to cup feed the baby.
Take the tour and ask all kinds of questions.
And try to be prepared for the birth... although it's not easy to be prepared the 1st time...
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Suzie,
thank you so much.
I think I've totally made up my mind now and I'm happy with the decision.
I really don't need the luxurious private package to be honest! And I prefer to stay obviously!
I'm glad that everything went well for you; just what I hope for us!
Thanks all for your helpful comments and suggestions.
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ola
18 yrs ago
I also did not have an insurance and decided to save the money (for when the baby is born) and went to QM.
After a year, I can say I am still not feeling good. If there is any chance for you to avoid going to a public hospital, I would say you shoudl do it. My labour was not very difficult or long, I only had a few stitches, but the doctor managed to mess up everything: using wrong threads (that did not dissolve), etc. At the check-up 5 days after the delivery the nurse saw that something was wrong (she asked two other nurses to have a look at me), but she decided not to say anything, and just told me that "it will get better". To cut a long story short, I couldn't walk properly for 2 months, and had to go private to have the wound re-opened and re-stitched again, had 2 cycles of antobiotics, and the doctor said that the only way to get everything back into "shape" is to have a corrective surgery after 2nd baby. I thought it was the worst moment of my life. Instead of enjoying my baby, I was in agony. We are now thinking about 2nd baby, and I will certainly get an insurance (you have to do it well in advance of actual pregnancy).
I was going to send the the flowers and a thank you card to the nurses/doctors (before the delivery), and istead I wrote a letter of complaint. My feeling is that they are like butchers. You want to get back into shape as soon as possible to enjoy your baby, and you will also need a lot of energy. So messed up deliveries do not help. I understand that there are a lot of happy stories about QM, but there are also a LOT of bad stories. I certainly will not risk it any more. As I said, I am reminded about my pain back then every month.
I wish you good luck. Hope everything will go very well, and you will be soon enjoyign your new baby.
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I am also planning to give birth at Queen Mary hospital due to lack of insurance. I was feeling positive about it until recently. A friend gave birth there on Oct 2nd- vaginal delivery. However, the hospital butchered her episiotomy. After 4 weeks, the wound still hasn't healed. She finally went to a private doctor and it appears that the cut was larger than it needed to be and that the stitches were very sloppy. I hope it won't progress into "Ola's" situation. In addition, every time I ask someone related to the hospital how things work there (birth plan, epidural, etc.), I get inconsistent answers! I now have mixed feelings about the public system in HK(I am 34 weeks pregnant). I don't have much choice, but if I could, I would go back to my home country (UK) for the birth- the midwives in the UK (was there in the summer) seemed more knowledgable than the intern doctors I've dealt with at Tsan Yuk/ Queen Mary. Unfortunately, my parents are overseas themselves at the moment, so I can't go back to the UK for the delivery. All I can say, is that your experience and mine at Queen Mary will be down to pure luck!
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I spent 7 days in QMH giving birth and afterwards and they were generally wonderful. Maybe because my birth process was so long (4 days before LO arrived) I was lucky (!!) enough to get to know the people who were caring for me but during my actual labour I went through 3 shifts of midwives and heard all of thier own labour stories and about their kids and lives and they treated me with a lot of respect and care in return.
It was a long hard labour with some very unpleasant twists and turns but the staff of QMH really made it a positive experience for me.
I am sure everything will go well for you there.
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almost every hospital, every doctor, every nurse will have an unsatisfied patient who didn't get the proper care or had some problems. NOT going to Queen Mary doesn't mean that you avoid any of the downsides of being admitted.
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This is all new ways of looking at it, but I guess you're right hkchoichoi, the risks exist, even in the best places.
Whether it is due to it being a teaching hospital and maybe having junior-ish doctors starting their new terms (in the UK, the death rates increase massively after each change of junior doctors... glurps!), or mere bad luck...
I'll still have to take the risk I think, like anywhere else, how silly would I feel if I'd deprived myself from the dad's company for weeks and then deprived him from the last stages of pregnancy and being there for the birth, if I ended up having problems in France instead!...
I'll try to be vigilent, but other than that, I'll have to hope that everything goes as well as for the other mums-to-be here.
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ShazP
18 yrs ago
I had not heard too much bad stuff about QM, so went there for my delivery.
They were butchers, we nearly lost our baby, I was unconscious for the last 2 hours. I had a 30 hr labour & although I kept begging for a DR as I had far severe back ache than contractions, they had only the student DR's checking me & saying ' All was well'. My first shift nurse was nice, the 2nd one was from hell, who did not even check to see if I had dilated at all!!
When it finally was calssifed as an emergency, the dean of QM had to come do the delivery as no one else felt they were experienced enough to do it. I had over 100 internal stitches. All got infected as too many ' instruments' were used ( they words). I could not sit for about 6 1/2 months.
Oh yes, they do anythign to avoid epidural. If they do give it to you, they remove it after about 2 hours as they insist we cannot feel anything.
It was pure toture. Sorry about the horrific details, but I wouldnt send my enemy there!
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I am planning to have delivery in the QM, but Spare Rib's post really scared me to death. I had my first child will epidural. It was in Singapore. Since it's very costly here in HK I have to go to QM. But I thought I can ask for en epidural. I am willing to pay for it if necessary.
So, can I ask to have an epidural throughout the delivery???
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Hi Nat,
can't answer your question, but others more experienced certainly will.
I'm thinking of going to QMH soon to have a visit and express some of the concerns and fears that some of these posts have triggered in me too.
Have you made such a visit yourself yet, and if not, would you like to do it together?
If so, you can PM me, or else write here again.
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if you have to go to QMH due to a lack of insurance, but if a story similar to spare_rib_hk does happen to you, what would you do afterwards?
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By the way, I really didn't want an epidural but they practically forced one on me (to shut me up...?) - they offered at the start and there was never any question that it wouldn't be available.
Yes, Queen Mary can be horrible (the doctors are bad tempered and arrogant, but then they do work LONG hours), but ultimately the baby care is great and it's almost free. It's only for a couple of days anyway.
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