Just wanted to share my experience of giving birth at United Christian since there aren't any recent threads.
My antenatal appointments were at the MCH in Hang Hau. Although I was often the only foreigner there, the nurses, midwives and definitely the doctors always spoke English. There's generally a lot of women on the appt day but i found that at my private doctor I'd also end up waiting quite a bit. Because I had some complications, they transferred me for consultations at Tseung Kwan O Hospital, which I preferred. I feel the doctors there are slightly more experienced. Unfortunately, or I guess fortunately, towards the end of my pregnancy I was deemed low-risk again and tranferred back to the MCH. In terms of seeing a different doctor every time, I didn't find that a problem. I would review my history with them each time and I they always listened.
I had a trial run of United Christian Hospital because my mucus plug came off early and I was admitted for a day. When you go into the labour ward on the 2nd floor, they hook you up to this monitor to check contractions and the baby's heartbeat etc. before deciding whether to admit you. The antenal ward is on the fourth floor. There are six beds in each section with curtains that can be drawn. However, the nurses are quite anal about drawing and opening the curtains even around the individual beds, as well as the window curtains? and they also keep the TV on at odd hours. However, the TV didn?t bother me so much because I was so tired that I just conked out. They have nurses checking the baby?s heartbeat and the blood pressure of the mum?s regularly and a doctor does rounds in the morning.
There are shared loos and they are fairly clean but the hygiene of the other women left something to be desired. Quite often there was pee on the seat and I was a bit worried about getting an infection. The showers are ok too also. They don?t look much but they work fine.
The food is ok ? Chinese style, but I liked it. Rice, a chicken gravy, boiled vegetable and soup. Congee for breakfast.
Now, the actual delivery. Once it is deemed you?re in active labour, they wheel you to the delivery suite on 2nd floor. I called my husband and asked him to meet me there. I was worried they wuldn?t let him in, but they did and he was there throughout active labour.
The positives:
1. The equipment and quality of care etc is good.
2. The cost - $400 for the entire stay
3. In case there?s a problem with the baby, the public hospitals are the only ones with neonatal icus.
4. The nurses and midwives are great
5. They are very pro-breastfeeding. They will come and help you breastfeed. Before my milk came in, my baby seemed very hungry and although they fed him formula, always with my consent, they used cup-feeding method. I have seen the nurses cup-feeding the babies so I;m sure they don?t bottle-feed as a shortcut.
The negatives:
1. The doctor-on-call was horrible. Very young, with a patronising. Her cervical exams were torture? the first time she just shoved her hand up me without warning, without even introducing herself and then began scolding me for not relaxing. Fortunately I saw her only thrice through the entire process ? sadly all involved cervical exams ? and the entire delivery was handled by the midwives who were great.
2. At some point, the pain got too much and I started begging for an epidural. However, it was not given to me and this is one reason I would consider going private if there ever is a next time.
3. Visiting hours are just two hours a day which is fine because after delivery, having visitors is a pain. But it would have helped immensely if one person was allowed to stay with me round the clock. When my baby was wailing constantly and chewing on my nipples for two hours at a stretch, it would have really helped to have one person take him and try to put him to sleep. The nurses do come and take the baby away but only after two hours. I was stressed and exhausted by the time I left.
That's all I can think of... hope someone finds this helpful.
Overall, given the cost, I think it was a positive experience but because of the doctor (I hope there's a different one on call for those of you who are delivering there soon) and the lack of epidural option, I'm conflicted about whether I would repeat the public experience.
My antenatal appointments were at the MCH in Hang Hau. Although I was often the only foreigner there, the nurses, midwives and definitely the doctors always spoke English. There's generally a lot of women on the appt day but i found that at my private doctor I'd also end up waiting quite a bit. Because I had some complications, they transferred me for consultations at Tseung Kwan O Hospital, which I preferred. I feel the doctors there are slightly more experienced. Unfortunately, or I guess fortunately, towards the end of my pregnancy I was deemed low-risk again and tranferred back to the MCH. In terms of seeing a different doctor every time, I didn't find that a problem. I would review my history with them each time and I they always listened.
I had a trial run of United Christian Hospital because my mucus plug came off early and I was admitted for a day. When you go into the labour ward on the 2nd floor, they hook you up to this monitor to check contractions and the baby's heartbeat etc. before deciding whether to admit you. The antenal ward is on the fourth floor. There are six beds in each section with curtains that can be drawn. However, the nurses are quite anal about drawing and opening the curtains even around the individual beds, as well as the window curtains? and they also keep the TV on at odd hours. However, the TV didn?t bother me so much because I was so tired that I just conked out. They have nurses checking the baby?s heartbeat and the blood pressure of the mum?s regularly and a doctor does rounds in the morning.
There are shared loos and they are fairly clean but the hygiene of the other women left something to be desired. Quite often there was pee on the seat and I was a bit worried about getting an infection. The showers are ok too also. They don?t look much but they work fine.
The food is ok ? Chinese style, but I liked it. Rice, a chicken gravy, boiled vegetable and soup. Congee for breakfast.
Now, the actual delivery. Once it is deemed you?re in active labour, they wheel you to the delivery suite on 2nd floor. I called my husband and asked him to meet me there. I was worried they wuldn?t let him in, but they did and he was there throughout active labour.
The positives:
1. The equipment and quality of care etc is good.
2. The cost - $400 for the entire stay
3. In case there?s a problem with the baby, the public hospitals are the only ones with neonatal icus.
4. The nurses and midwives are great
5. They are very pro-breastfeeding. They will come and help you breastfeed. Before my milk came in, my baby seemed very hungry and although they fed him formula, always with my consent, they used cup-feeding method. I have seen the nurses cup-feeding the babies so I;m sure they don?t bottle-feed as a shortcut.
The negatives:
1. The doctor-on-call was horrible. Very young, with a patronising. Her cervical exams were torture? the first time she just shoved her hand up me without warning, without even introducing herself and then began scolding me for not relaxing. Fortunately I saw her only thrice through the entire process ? sadly all involved cervical exams ? and the entire delivery was handled by the midwives who were great.
2. At some point, the pain got too much and I started begging for an epidural. However, it was not given to me and this is one reason I would consider going private if there ever is a next time.
3. Visiting hours are just two hours a day which is fine because after delivery, having visitors is a pain. But it would have helped immensely if one person was allowed to stay with me round the clock. When my baby was wailing constantly and chewing on my nipples for two hours at a stretch, it would have really helped to have one person take him and try to put him to sleep. The nurses do come and take the baby away but only after two hours. I was stressed and exhausted by the time I left.
That's all I can think of... hope someone finds this helpful.
Overall, given the cost, I think it was a positive experience but because of the doctor (I hope there's a different one on call for those of you who are delivering there soon) and the lack of epidural option, I'm conflicted about whether I would repeat the public experience.
