Prince of Wales Hospital - Shatin^Popular

Well we just went through the Public System at the Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH) and found the whole process to be very pleasant and efficient.

We had been going to the local maternity clinic (MCH) at Lek Yuen, Shatin and been referred to the PWH for checkups and so had already visited the hospital and made an appointment for the delivery.

My wife was having some problems with our baby who was in a breach position and we were going to the PWH for checkups to determine if the baby was moving into position or not. Well, to cut a long story short my wife ended up having to go for an emergency CS. And when I say emergency I mean whilst we were there for a check up, the doctors found that the baby’s heartbeat was fluctuating and so they sent me to the registration counter to book my wife in, saying that she may have to stay overnight for observation.

15 minutes later I was back up at the ward to see how she was doing to be greeted by my wife being frantically wheeled past me on a bed with doctors saying they were taking her in for an operation now and please wait outside. It seems that they found the baby’s heartbeat was slowing down to below 80bpm and was fluctuating dangerously and the doctor was worried for the health of the baby and mother and decided to deliver the baby there and then. If we had been in a private hospital I do not know what may have happened, being in the PWH meant we had immediate access to some of the best emergency maternity care in Hong Kong.

The doctors and nurses apologized that I could not be there for the delivery as the emergency room was too small and there was no time for me to get ready and scrub up which I fully understood. Normally the husband can attend the birth, either normal deliver or CS. While my wife was in the operating theatre another doctor explained to me everything that was happening very clearly and they showed me our baby immediately she was born before rushing her off to an incubator.

All this took place within about 30 minutes from first booking in to delivery.

After the delivery my wife was very well treated, I met the doctors and they again explained to us both what had happened and why. This greatly helped relive my wife who was in a little bit of shock. After a few hours in the recovery room she was transferred to the main maternity ward.

Unlike the previous reviewer the public ward nurses were all very polite and friendly and all remembered our names. Sure there was no choice for food, but I must say though that every time I visited my wife it looked very good; basic, healthy Chinese food, meat, vegetable and rice. The quality of the food was much better than I have seen in other Hong Kong hospitals. Maybe they have special food for the maternity wards?

You do need to bring along all your own toiletries and there was only one toilet for the ward but is was large enough and very clean, certainly better than expected and similar to that found in UK NHS hospitals

The wards were not just huge open rooms with many beds but were divided into several alcoves/wings with at most 8 beds in a wing giving a feeling of a much smaller ward. Coming from UK where NHS hospitals are huge and open with many many this was actually a very pleasant surprise. My wife was lucky to have a nice window bed and being the only one in the ward at the time who had had a CS was well taken care of by all the nurses.

Visiting times are very restrictive because of the SARS. Visiting was strictly limited to 5:30-8:00pm and only 2 visitors per patient per day. This was probably the only real disappointment. Note that for children you can visit at any time, day or night.

My wife and baby were in there for 5 days. Follow ups were also very good. On the first day out of the hospital it was found that our daughter Michelle was slightly jaundiced and so they recommended that even though it was a borderline case it was best to re-admit her for phototherapy. She was back in hospital for another 3 days and the nurses in the phototherapy ward were again superb, you can tell that they all loved their work and loved the children.

The doctors were also excellent. I can not remember their names as you basically get who ever is on call/duty that day but all of them were friendly, helpful and very professional. We did have a junior doctor one time as this is the major teaching hospital in Hong Kong, but there was always a senor doctor somewhere on hand.

Overall an excellent experience. The doctors and nurses were all very helpful, professional and pleasant and we will certainly go through the PWH again if/when we have another baby. Cost is $100/day plus $50 admission fee leaving us much more to spend on toys :)

The doctor (Danny Leung) was excellent. He answered all questions thoroughly, and never showed a condescending or rushed attitude (which was all that I got from Dr. Macor Wan, when I went to his "famous" clinic for one and the last visit, on the recommendation of other mothers). I had to have a Caesarian, and this was performed smoothly, and with good stitches! Moreover the anaesthesiologist at my request spent several minutes explaining to me the exact risks/pros & cons of different anaesthesia types. The nurses in the ward were also extremely, very excellent. They remembered all the patients' names, attended to any need with real concern, and helped enormously in teaching how to breastfeed my baby (she had latching problems in the beginning), and how to use pumps. I continued to have BF problems for a month after coming home, but their repeated lessons and recommendations helped alot, as well as the "help" phone numbers they left for me. At the time, I really thought these were the best possible maternity nurses you could find in the world. I have not stayed in the public ward of the same hospital, but passing through it, it clearly has lots of beds in one open space. It seems that you need to bring your own toilet paper, and share one toilet on the floor. There was one ward-neighbor in my ward, who had been down in the public ward and was moved up upon space becoming available, and she immediately was telling her family that it was a world of difference: the nurses in the public side all called you by number, and were much more brusque in their treatment of you, and the food choices were more limited.
At Prince of Wales the costs for HKID holders are, $3,020/$2,010 for 1st class/2nd class private ward. Public ward costs just $68/day. Private ward also required a $45K (1st cl)/$30K (2nd cl) deposit payment.