Dr's Costs

This is my first pregnancy and I don't have medical cover so I am trying to suss out how much the Dr's etc will cost. I know consultations and scans are about $800 each, but later in pregnancy when you need to go for a weekly blood pressure check and weigh in, what should I expect to pay for this? Also are there any other hidden costs involved? Does anyone know approx. what the hospital fees are for both private and public? Finally after the birth, will I get a midwife to come to my house to check on me and the baby, and what will this cost?


Sorry but I am clueless to all of this and I can't seem to find all the answers on the net.


Help!

I went public for my first baby - Queen Mary Hospital. As a HKID holder, you pay taxes which pretty much covers all of your care and the follow up care of your infant. TOTAL I paid for everything, scans and whatnot was less than $2000 HKD. That's visits, scans, blood tests, delivery, three day stay. (even includes epidural and pain relief if you so desire but I opted for a natural birth.) It was a ward room (a bunch of other ladies who just gave birth and me) and the food was gross. (my mom brought my food in for me twice a day.)


On the private side, if you so choose, entire pregnancies GENERALLY run between 75,000 up to 150,000 depending on epidurals, complications, and length of stay in the hospital. The other somewhat scandalous thing is that private docs charge more for their delivery and whatnot based on what sort of room you opt for - Prviate rooms at Adventist or Matilda or Sanitorium will cost you more, not only for the room itself, but also for doctor's fees.


You can read up a lot about individual Ob/Gyn's on this site - tons of postings, questions about fees and whatnot. It's a FAR MORE expensive option than public, especially if you are not covered for maternity.


My daughter had some major jaundice difficulties arising after her birth and so I was in and out of the hospital with her...her entire treament was $500 HKD for a period of four months, which included expensive tests, numerous visits to the doctor and whatnot. The care was excellent and I found it much better than the private care I received with my second in Seoul.


In terms of a midwife coming to your house after birth, I HIGHLY recommend it. If you go to the annerly midwives website, they have prices there about how much home visits costs. After weight the options between private with no insurance and the far more economical public, we opted for public with the thought that we could save a ton of money for my child's future education (which is also going to cost and arm and a leg) and splurge a bit on the extras at home, like a midwife coming to check on me. I found that more helpful than anything else.

Thank you so much for all that info. its nice to hear from someone who has gone down the public route as everyone I ask is covered privately.


Just one last thing, I don't work over here so don't pay tax, but I do hold an ID card. Do you know if I will still be eligible for public health care? Thanks again!!

if you hold an ID card, you are eligbile. You need a referral, or an ultrasound picture from your GP to register at Tsan Yuk if you are going the Queen Mary route.


there are lots of posters on here who went Queen Mary route and if you do a search on Queen Mary on this site, you'll see lots of various answers regarding the experience. But my philosophy is that I could suck it up for a few months (really 7.5 months) so that i could save a bunch of money for my child's future. If I had private insurance, I might have gone private, but after my first Queen Mary experience I actually wanted to go public again.

I am also interested in this topic. We have some insurance but it will no where near cover the cost of everything. Do you have to see an obstetrican for ante-natal visits or are there other options like seeing midwives / GP instead?

You can see a midwife - Annerley Midwives (link on this site) for about $250-$300, for most check-ups. I keep meaning to book an appt with them...hopefully it will mean less waiting around that at the hospital.