Public vs. private my experience

I've given birth in both Matilda and Queen Mary and just want to share my experiences. I went to Matilda for my first two, and QM for my third, mainly b/c we were going to be moving and buying a house in the US and just wanted to save some cash because not all of the expenses would have been covered at Matilda. (we had local insurance for #3 since we had gone off expat package). How stupid!


I have no complaints about my experience at Matilda. In fact, going to QM made it totally clear to me just how fantastic of a hospital it is. Here's my comparison (and I KNOW everyone's experiences are different, but this is my experience)


M/ My husband was with me the whole time in early labor

QM/ Hubby couldn't join me until I was in the delivery room. Had to deal with contractions on my own for about 2 hours. Hubby had to stay in waiting room (i.e. lift lobby with a window ledge to sit on)


M/ Medical care excellent during labor (epidural for #1, natural for #2). #1 pushed for 2 hours.

QM/ Medical care excellent during labor (had epidural). Though I did have a 1 hour time limit to push the baby out, after which they would recommend vacuum or forceps.


M/ babies breastfed ASAP and we all went to postnatal ward together

QM/ baby wisked away to get ALL her shots (welcome to the world - POKE, POKE!!), cleaned, and then breastfed (20-30 minutes later). At this point, my husband was no longer allowed to be with me (he was not there when she fed). I was starving as I had not eaten in 24 hours. He went to get me food and was not allowed to see me until I was in postnatal ward. I was desperately thirsty and a nurse came in and gave me a cup of water which was put on a shelf out of my reach. Sat in that room for over an hour without hubby or baby waiting to have epidural removed. Nearly in tears because I was famished and nobody was paying attention to me and I could hear my husband in the hallway yelling at the nurses. About an hour and a half later I'm wheeled to postnatal and I get to see my husband. He tells me baby had low fever when born, but is already back to a normal temp and they want to keep her in NICU for 24 hrs just as a precaution.


M/ As soon as I get to my room I get about 3 kinds of meds and an icepack.

QM/ Nothing. I had to call a nurse and got Panadol, but was reminded I could only have this 3 more times in the next 24 hrs.


M/ baby not rooming in and brought to me for feedings. I got some much-needed rest

QM/ Even though I told the midwife I would be breastfeeding my hubby comes back from NICU to tell me she has already had a bottle of formula. I am horror-stricken as none of my children have ever had formula, EVER. So in the immensely painful state that I was, I had to be wheeled upstairs to NICU to feed her every 2 hours (or whenever she would cry inconsolably) for the next 14+ hours. Oh yeah, and had to sit on a nice hard plastic chair. That felt GREAT on my episiotomy. The nurses in NICU had little knowledge of breastfeeding. One of them asked me how much milk she was drinking and if I was engorged. I had to explain to her about colostrum and how my milk won't come in for another couple days. My baby was the only one (out of about 20) in NICU being breastfed. Oh, and sleep for me? Nil.


M/ Nice, satisfying meals

QM/ Just looking at the food made me nauseous. Was never even offered drinking water. Had hubby bring everything.


M/ Nurses were there when I needed them

QM/ Not so helpful. They seem very busy doing other things. To our urging we got my baby out of NICU early to stop my constant back and forth, but I still was in serious pain and could not sit to feed her and could barely get out of bed to pick her up out of her cot when she needed me. It was clear I was not going to get any help with this task. There was no way I'd be able to make it through a night on my own with her by my side and nobody to help me.


M/ Stayed 3-5 days

QM/ Left 24 hours after the birth. I got 100x more help at home from my husband than from the nurses at QM.


So just remember, medical care is not all you need to be comparing. Yes they are both excellent but in my experience the after care at QM was nearly nonexistent. For you first-timers, you're going to feel like you've been hit by a train so you really are going to want as much help as possible, and I found the midwives at Matilda to be very caring and anticipatory of your needs. At QM all I got was no sleep and a big head (and bottom) ache.

kellym, thank you so much for your thread. It is very helpful to hear from someone who can directly compare both hospitals. Most responses to the public v private question are from people who have experienced one or other.


Cara's point about 30 hour shifts is fair and I do sympathise with doctors who have to work like that, but I'd still rather be treated by someone who has slept.


I guess you have confirmed my starting assumption that if I am expected to have a 'routine' birth or other medical procedure, I'd head for the Matilda, but if complications were expected, I'd have to go for QMH. Thanks again....and congratulations!!!!

This is a really interesting thread.


I completely agree that the Matilda care experience is amazing, and, especially for first time mums, maybe a completely "justifiable" expense :-). Most/many firstimers really have no idea about babycare or breastfeeding and are a bit overwhelmed by it all--even those like me who read scores of the best books--and family can be far away... The QM formula story, and even after the parent's clear instruction, is shocking (to me).


One thing that stands out though, is that second and third time mums might often have the confidence and determination to know what they want for their baby--and would battle the world to achieve it.


Congratulations on your newest kelly :-) Hope everyone settles in well to the States and the move goes as smoothly as possible.

Agree about the immediate post-delivery experience - I had about 3 hours in the labour room by myself, no partner, no baby, no staff, nothing - also my partner had no idea where (or how) I was (he'd been told to meet me at the main ward) or where (or how) the baby was. Apparently it was shift change time and I had to be 'handed over' to the next shift.


Agree also about them pushing formula feeding despite claiming to be pro-breastfeeding, and also agree that the knowledge of a lot of the staff about breastfeeding is absolutely diabolical (I had the same thing - I wasn't producing enough milk a few hours after delivery so I should give formula...). BUT, when I finally went up to the nursing counter (where they have to spend their days filling in countless stupid forms - this is why there is no time for actual nursing) I got a more senior nurse round to my bed to help me. In QMH you have to ask very directly if you want anything.


Of course the food is crap - it's hospital food, you pay $100 a day for 3 meals, a bed, and quality medical treatment. You only need to look at this website to see people's recommendations for food - take some cereal, have your visitors bring sandwiches. It's only for a couple of days, not a big deal. Failing that, you can call all the major hotels in HK who would be more than happy to send in food to you. Obviously it would cost you a bit, but would have saved the trauma of having to face nasty hospital food.


Of course anyone with insurance, expecting a normal birth, would be crazy to go to a government hospital if they could go to a private one for the same price, but the vast majority of people are not so privileged.


I was disgusted when I went on a QMH tour to see some of the people's attitudes. I was on the English-speakers' tour/visit (I have no insurance and cannot afford to go private), and pretty much everyone else there was planning to use QMH not from choice, but because of high-risk pregnancies. When the nurse warned these people that there were limited first-class (private) rooms and that they might have to go on the public ward some of these women were practically (or actually, some of them) in tears at the thought. To have to share with other people...to have the same medical treatment as thousands of other people...what a terrible thought. There are some people who do not appreciate how lucky they are to be able to have quality medical care at virtually no cost. I hope (but can't imagine) that these women will be making (or having their husbands make, as I can't imagine most of them would sully their manicures with actual work) a sizeable donation to the hospital that will be delivering their babies, and which they have so little respect for.


(Oh, and Queen Mary has a waiting room - not a lift lobby with a window ledge. It's cunningly hidden right next to the labour ward entrance, and further disguised by the sign on the door saying 'Husbands' Waiting Room'.)

Dear all

I usually don’t take a firm stand as to what is better, public or private hospitals, but I think that each person is so different that it must be based a little on the character what option suits best. Someone pointed out that second time round, some mums are more able to push for what they want in the public hospitals and I find this to be true in most cases.

As you may know, we run a maternity service that is independent from the hospitals and I have had experience in working with both sides a lot. Private hospitals, without a doubt are a great place to go to and mostly because of the staff and their willingness to care for you. The public hospitals provide excellent medical care but staff sometimes needs to be firmly approached by a big husband to be in tune with the mums needs. In the end, both are focusing on the health of mother and child and usually do very good.

In the last three years of practicing here, we are having more and more families coming to see us without having insurance and looking for options to have the best of both. What we have done for those families is to be a part of their antenatal, postnatal and labour care, partly, with somewhat less cost than a full private system would offer. This way, if the women are seeing a private obstetrician, we suggest, pick one that has a package for the whole pregnancy and birth, or if not, do half of the antenatal visits with us, and half with the private doctor. Our antenatal checkups cost 200 HKD but do not include an ultrasound. The same way, if you are going through the public system, you can do half of the antenatal checkups there, and half with us, - meaning that you may pay up to around 1000 HKD for these to us, but you get the info, care and support that sometimes is lacking in the public system.


When it comes to the birth, in the private hospitals most people have no need for extra assistance of midwives, since the staff there is good, but again, if you do, we do have excellent statistics for natural, non-epidural births, which then in return sometimes decreases costs, (we charge 6900 HKD for this so this is not cheap), but mostly just caters for the needs and makes her feel comfortable. This same option for public hospitals is something that has become really popular, since we stay at home with the family until there is a need to go to the hospital and then take her there. This means that the family gets to go straight into the labour room, no waiting for husband, the time in the hospital is minimized and usually need for more assistance is minimal. Also, most women, after spending a while at home in labour, get quite a confidence in what they want and need and then feel freer to express this to the midwives at the hospitals.


Regarding the postnatal care, again, should you be in a public hospital, you could be discharged the day after birth, and go to the best place of all, since we do homevisits to help with everything that otherwise could have been helped with in the hospital. For private hospitals, I would not recommend this option, but in the public hospitals, this is certainly popular amongst our clients and they get to: breastfeed when they want, stay with the baby as they want, eat what they want, husband is around as they want... etc.

As you may know, this is a popular option in Europe and certainly in Iceland, where I come from, seen as both privilege and luxury, to go home straight after giving birth.


Of course I am not a neutral body to express about this, being the one that provides private care, but I felt that I needed to tell you this since so many people are asking for this nowadays, and so many people are also telling us that they wished that they knew about it before. We don’t advertise this much and mostly it is a word of mouth. Just like any other private service we are expensive but a shared care like this might cost something around:


Antenatal appointments, 5x: 1000HKD

Labour care, as many hours as needed: 6900HKD

Aftercare, 5 visits: 3650 HKD

Total: 11550 HKD.

In addition, there would be the cost of either public care, around 300 HKD or private doctors and hospitals, anywhere from total of 50.000 to 200.000.


Again, everyone should choose an option that suits their budget and circumstances and luckily we are in a place that most people have some choices and access to very good care.



Good luck everyone, and feel free to call or email if you want any further help,

Warmly,

Hulda – hulda@amidwife.com

Hi everyone,


I am moving to HK next month, and am currently 17 weeks with my 2nd. It's been great having all this information on what's available in HK, and all the comparisons between private & public.


Private sounds the definite way to go. I however couldn't believe the cost!? My god, it's THAT expensive??


I have asked my health insurance if they cover hospitalisation for deliveries, and he says it is not possible.


Can anyone recommend such an insurance plan as they seem to be available in HK?


Appreciate any info anyone might have. I can be reached at lizwade@gmail.com

if you're already pregnant - no such luck on getting any sort of coverage as most of them have a 12 month lead time BEFORE you can get pregnant. (could be slightly less but you definitely CAN:T be pregant and get covered.) I know that many love the plans at Allianz, international coverage as it covers EVERYTHING but as I said you're not eligible.


you have to pay out of pocket or you can save that money for your child's future education and suffer for a few days. IT's not even that bad. I went public with my first and had an amazing experience. Would do it again if I were still in HK. I had a horrible second experience in Seoul and I went private. So it's not always what you pay for.


since you're a second time mom, you'll probably do fine public - as you know what's going on and you can fight to get what you want. I found the nurses and midwives AWESOME, even though they were overworked and underpaid. Sweetness and kindness in attitude go a long way in getting good service. (I saw lots of expat women being incredibly rude and getting rude service back, but those expats who were kind got lots of compassion and kindness back.) It IS public, you have to keep in mind that they are working very hard - but they do their best to serve you - and for your health.


instead, splurge on post natal visits from Annerly Midwives. Hulda is awesome. those first few days at home with your baby -Hulda coming by (my friend used Louise and loved her) are amazing.

thanks for the info hkchoichoi - which hospital did you use?

Queen Mary in Pokfulam. I've heard great things about Prince of Wales as well as Princess Margaret - I think that's the name. If you do a search for Private hospitals here you'll get a whole list of names.

A week ago I gave birth at the Prince of Wales Public Hospital in Shatin. It was my third child, the first two were born in the private system in Australia. My experience at the Prince of Wales was great, I can't say a bad word about it. Every staff member I had contact with was caring, polite and professional. The bill when I was discharged was HK $150 !!

KAL1, did you get your pre natal care in Prince of Wales too? is waiting time very long?

Lizkim1 - Once I had initially registered at the Prince of Wales I had checkups at one of the Maternal & Child Health Centres at Tseung Kwan O as it is convenient to where we live. Yes, the waiting time was lengthy, usually around 2 hours. I was however very pleased with the care I received at the centre.