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Information about Queen Mary

  1. #1
    Soon2Bmum is offline Registered User
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    Aug 2007
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    Hong Kong
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    Information about Queen Mary

    I would be very grateful if anyone could tell me about their recent experience of using Tsan Yuk for pre and post-natal care and Queen Mary for delivery. I would really like to understand when and where an ultrasound might be done (I'm almost 12 weeks) and what my care will be between now and birth and whether it will only be given by midwives. I'm booked in for the Ante-natal 'induction' this Saturday so perhaps my questions will be answered then but would be great to know in advance.

    Can someone also please let me know if my husband can be with me for the labour and delivery. I've seen mixed comments on this. I can probably manage without him during labour if I have to but naturally he wants to be there and I think he should be to 'feel' some of the pain! he he

    Last request - please confirm I will be able to get an epidural if I decide I need/want one. Any advice on timing for this would be great. I know in Australia you can get past the point of no return. I was wondering if it was like that here.

    Thank you!


  2. #2
    JennyB is offline Registered User
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    Congratulations! It sounds as if you have already seen some of the existing threads on this topic - if not, do a search because there have been countless threads before which I have contributed to. I hope that we can ease your anxieties rather than add to them with horror stories!

    I'm not sure whether you will get a scan on your first visit or not - maybe it depends on how busy they are - because I did but I know some others did not, so you may just have to wait and see.

    The standard procedure is that you will have appointments every month until 36 weeks, whereupon they become weekly. Not all of these will be at the Tsan Yuk - if you have no complications then you will be sent to a local clinic. You can choose the one nearest your home. If you have anything unusual about your pregnancy then you may have more frequent checkups and they will all be at the Tsan Yuk. What normally happens at the routine checkups is that the nurses do weight, urine checks (you need to take a sample bottle for each visit!) and blood pressure, then you go to a midwife for abdomen palpitation (which means they feel your abdomen to check the uterus is expanding to the expected size), and you will only see a doctor if you have any special concerns or there is anything unusual in your test results. But you will definitely see a doctor now and again because there are other routine tests that are done outside of the regular monthly checkups such as blood glucose test (around 30 weeks I think) and 20 week scan (when they check the baby's internal organs) where you will probably see a doctor. You can also request to see a doctor, and a more senior one if you are not satisfied with the experience of the more junior one, at any time although this is not encouraged and will require more waiting around on your part.

    Husbands can definitely be there for the delivery and the final stages of labour. The only time they will be excluded is if you turn up at the hospital in the early stages of labour. Then you will be admitted to the general ward rather than the birthing suite. In the general ward, regular visiting hours apply, although if you are pushy or persuasive then husbands have been known to sneak in, especially if he stays by your bedside with the curtains drawn so as not to disturb other patients. As soon as you are considered to be in active labour (not an exact science but usually at about 3-5cm dilation of the cervix) and there is a birthing suite available, then you will be transferred and your husband can be present.

    Therefore, try not to turn up at the hospital too early. If you live far away from the hospital and are worried about leaving it too late, do what I did and get a hotel room (or stay with friends - but they have to be good ones!!!) somewhere closer. You will learn much more in later pregnancy about the signs of advanced labour, but one word of advice: don't try and ask the Tsan Yuk or local clinic staff about the subject. As far as they are concerned, any sign of labour merits rushing to the hospital immediately! I would be interested to learn how the shortage of beds due to the influx of mainlanders has affected this issue since I gave birth there a year ago...

    Epidurals - there are good reasons why people get "past the point of no return" which applies in all countries, sorry. To have it administered via a needle in your back, you have to lie still for quite a while which becomes quite difficult in the later stages of labour. Also, I don't think it takes effect immediately, so if you are in the advanced stages of labour then it might not take effect until after you give birth, or only in the pushing stage when it is quite useful for it to be wearing off so that you can participate more. Contrary to many people's assumption, the worst part about giving birth is not the actual delivery but 1 or 2 hours before delivery (also known as the "transition stage"). That is when most people are screaming for epidurals when it is too late.

    Anyway QM staff are quite well versed in the best timing of various forms of pain relief. There might not be an anaethetist available instantly, so there might be rare cases where you are unlucky, but I think that applies in all but the best resourced hospitals.

    In my second delivery last year, I didn't need any form of pain relief because I had done a course at Annerley Midwives called Hypnobirthing. It really did work for me because I experienced unbelievable pain in my first birth and the second one was such a breeze, even though it was longer! (Most people say their second one is easier just because it is shorter.) Honestly, most of the QM staff didn't believe I was in labour until the baby's head appeared!

    Best wishes,

    Jenny


  3. #3
    Soon2Bmum is offline Registered User
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    Aug 2007
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    Jenny,

    Thank you so much for such a great, comprehensive response. It's the best one I've seen of all the threads and covers everything I had any questions about. It's also great to know that there's a possibility I may get a scan on the weekend (ideal!). But I guess there's also a good chance it won't happen.

    Thanks again. Really, really appreciate you sharing your experience. It's fantastic.
    Best wishes
    Angela


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