Pregnant in Hong Kong

Hi, I am currently living in Australia and my husband and I are planning to move to HK in the next six months or so.

I am 17 weeks pregnant with our first child and we are trying to decide whether we should go to the HK before or after having the baby. I think that my preference would be move prior to having the baby so that I can make some friends and feel a bit settled when the time comes. I am apprehensive about moving with a baby that is only a couple of months old because I think I will be very tired and "nesting" big time.

Can anyone give me some advice about the standard of maternity care in HK? Can I expect the same (or better) than Australia? Alos, any comments on giving birth in HK would be appreciated!

many thanks

Sherwes

Thanks Cara. Do you have any idea as to how ealry you need to book in? I will be 6 months pregnant by the time that we will know definately about the move. Do you think that will be too late to find an ob and hospital? I have a confirmed booking and an ob in Sydney as a back up.

sherwes, if you want to go privately, I suggest that you find a doctor to book you in now. There has been excessive demand for private hospitals this year, as cara mentioned. One of the posters on this site has taken the time to compile a spreadsheet of Obstetricians in HK. If you PM Wishing and Hoping, she will send it to you.


Freinds from Australia (I'm not Australian) have raved about the Matilda. I have not given birth there yet, but have been there a number of times for other reasons. It's seemed pretty similar to a private hospital in London (but that's probably not much help).


Good luck.

hello cara, which public hospital did you give birth in? thx

Hi Sherwes, I'm an Aussie in HK. I'm 6 months pregnant and I see a private gyno. Dr Robert Dawkins, 715 Jardine House Central, HK. Tel +852 2715 4577. He is an Aussie himself and has a very good reputation - I am very happy. He only delivers at the Matilda Hospital, which is private & expensive. Check out their website www.matilda.org. You should be able to find out the costs of their maternity packages. From memory the base price starts at around AUD$10K. If money's not a problem then Dr. Dawkins and the Matilda would be great. The other option is the public hospital system which I've heard is excellent & very inexpensive. If you do go with the public hospital system you might like to look into the doula services offered by Annerley midwives www.annerley.com.hk. They are professional midwives. They can come to your home to help you with first stages of labour, they can also assist you during the delivery and they do home visits after the birth. Note, in the public hospital I enquired about "Queen Mary's" they only allow 1 person in the delivery room and also visiting hours are restricted, from memory 12 - 1pm and 6-8pm. Hope that helps, good luck

I have given birth in the last eighteen months at queen Marys and found the medical care excellent. I would not hesitate to go there again.


However a point to note is that now you may not be able to deliver there if you live in certain areas(there may be ways around this!).


I looked into using Annerly midwives based on their reputation but decided against it as they would not be allowed to assist at Queen Marys hospital. They have a strict one person allowed in the delivery room policy and that is usually the husband.