Thoughts on.... Giving birth in Hong Kong.
I'm not really sure if I ever journelled my experience of giving birth in a foreign country. The first 12 months of Lily's life are a bit of a blur!
My experience in a nut shell; If you can afford to go private, then I would do it.
In detail, the Hong Kong public health care system seems to be no different to the NHS in the UK. Both are understaffed and bursting at the seems with patients. But I will contradict myself entirely now by saying that the overcautiousness they express within the health care system in HK actually works really well. I don't feel as though they missed a trick with my pregnancy complications and were very thorough in looking after me.
Ante natal appointments were painfully long, the waiting time being the main problem. I would leave William with a babysitter and by the time I'd made the journey to hospital and got home again the round trip would be about 4 hours. This made me anxious as I didn't like leaving William with a babysitter, and so Matt would take time off work to look after him, which eased my mind.
They're obsessed with BMI in HK. My BMI came down from 29 to 26 during my pregnancy as I lost weight, despite this they treated me as though my 'obesity' was something to be concerned about (I didn't experience this in the UK with my first baby despite GAINING 3 stone!). Bedside manner is appalling on more than one occasion I refused treatment for something that wasn't necessary. Example? They wanted me to have yet another Glucose Tolerance Test for gestational diabetes at 35 weeks (my first was done at 28 weeks and was fine), despite my urine giving no indication of there being gestational diabetes, and my midwife (who we paid to see privately for a bit of moral support) suggesting there was no need for another GTT. The reason they wanted to test me? Big baby. Because my first born, William, was just shy of 9lbs, they wanted to test me again because this baby was also on the big side (despite me being tall, and my husband being tall, and my whole family being flaming tall). There were no other indications of Gestational Diabetes. So I refused to have one. I'd already had one, so I decided another wasn't necessary. They suggested I had a growth scan at 29 weeks as baby was big (seriously). I had growth scans with my first baby because I had Polyhydramnios and a big baby (with a big head!) and so that was fine, but a growth scan purely because baby felt big? Well I refused that too. I went to see a private doctor, called Dr Doo, and had a growth scan done, and was happily reassured that although she was on the upper end of the scale for 'normal size' that genetically she was following suit and all was fine.
Oh and another thing, an appointment was made for me to go and see the anaesthetist. When I challenged the Doctor why I was to go and see the anaesthetist? Because they needed to establish whether they would be able to get an epidural in my back. The reason? Because of my OBESITY.
Seriously. I went to the appointment. The guy took one look at me and told me I was wasting his time, there was no need to be there.
The doctors made me feel like I was a beached whale who was on the verge of keeling over with some disease. I wasn't made to feel like that with my pregnancy in the UK.
I didn't feel like a beached whale. I felt beautiful. I wore my bump with pride.
And now for what it is like to labour in a Hong Kong Hospital. I will try to be brief....
You cannot have your partner with you on the labour ward. Fair enough. Same rules apply in the UK. I got told to 'sssshhhhh' by a very busy midwife who had received complaints from the lady in the bed next to me. I was contracting every 2 mins by the time I had actually made it to hospital, I was in a whole world of pain. Telling me to shush only made me louder! I was made to take off my clothes (very difficult when alone and contracting every two mins) put on a hospital gown, had a TENS machine whacked on me and when I tried to hold the offending midwifes hand mid way through contraction she practically threw me off her. It was all so hurried. I just wanted to have some help and support but of course I didn't get any. She was too busy being under staffed. I was told to bounce on a birthing ball, so I went over to the window overlooking HK (amazing view!) and sat down and felt myself pushing already so I was told to sit in a wheelchair and was wheeled very quickly to the delivery suite (bashing my ankles on the doors and bruising them). I was desperate for some water. I wasn't allowed my drinking bottle (which i carried at all times in hot and humid HK) or any personal belongings in the delivery suite. When I gave birth to William I had a photo of my Mum on the window ledge, but wasn't allowed this time. I was told to lay on the bed when all I wanted was to get up and rock. I wanted to have a drink and I wanted to rock, god damn it I should have just got up off the bed and done things my way, but going from 1 to 10 cm in the blink of an eye my contractions were on top of each other and crippling me, causing immense panic in my mind and I was LOUD. I was allowed some water thankfully and then Lily was born and all became calm again. My midwife, Barbara, was barely there until time for delivery, so Matt and I were alone to labour, which was scary, because I wasn't used to labouring so quickly, my first labour was very different to this one.
The staff did their jobs and everything went well, I cannot ask for more, but if going to a private hospital was an option for me, as so many people do, then I would have done it. What made the experience easier for me was that this was my second baby, and I knew what to expect.
For me labour is a wonderful experience. Your body does all the work and you need to respond accordingly, if I do have another baby one day, and all goes well, I will have a water birth, and be free to move around at will and have a lovely support network around me of my husband and strong women..... see all this talking about my experience of giving birth abroad hasn't put me off having another.... one day.
My experience in a nut shell; If you can afford to go private, then I would do it.
In detail, the Hong Kong public health care system seems to be no different to the NHS in the UK. Both are understaffed and bursting at the seems with patients. But I will contradict myself entirely now by saying that the overcautiousness they express within the health care system in HK actually works really well. I don't feel as though they missed a trick with my pregnancy complications and were very thorough in looking after me.
Ante natal appointments were painfully long, the waiting time being the main problem. I would leave William with a babysitter and by the time I'd made the journey to hospital and got home again the round trip would be about 4 hours. This made me anxious as I didn't like leaving William with a babysitter, and so Matt would take time off work to look after him, which eased my mind.
They're obsessed with BMI in HK. My BMI came down from 29 to 26 during my pregnancy as I lost weight, despite this they treated me as though my 'obesity' was something to be concerned about (I didn't experience this in the UK with my first baby despite GAINING 3 stone!). Bedside manner is appalling on more than one occasion I refused treatment for something that wasn't necessary. Example? They wanted me to have yet another Glucose Tolerance Test for gestational diabetes at 35 weeks (my first was done at 28 weeks and was fine), despite my urine giving no indication of there being gestational diabetes, and my midwife (who we paid to see privately for a bit of moral support) suggesting there was no need for another GTT. The reason they wanted to test me? Big baby. Because my first born, William, was just shy of 9lbs, they wanted to test me again because this baby was also on the big side (despite me being tall, and my husband being tall, and my whole family being flaming tall). There were no other indications of Gestational Diabetes. So I refused to have one. I'd already had one, so I decided another wasn't necessary. They suggested I had a growth scan at 29 weeks as baby was big (seriously). I had growth scans with my first baby because I had Polyhydramnios and a big baby (with a big head!) and so that was fine, but a growth scan purely because baby felt big? Well I refused that too. I went to see a private doctor, called Dr Doo, and had a growth scan done, and was happily reassured that although she was on the upper end of the scale for 'normal size' that genetically she was following suit and all was fine.
Oh and another thing, an appointment was made for me to go and see the anaesthetist. When I challenged the Doctor why I was to go and see the anaesthetist? Because they needed to establish whether they would be able to get an epidural in my back. The reason? Because of my OBESITY.
Seriously. I went to the appointment. The guy took one look at me and told me I was wasting his time, there was no need to be there.
The doctors made me feel like I was a beached whale who was on the verge of keeling over with some disease. I wasn't made to feel like that with my pregnancy in the UK.
I didn't feel like a beached whale. I felt beautiful. I wore my bump with pride.
And now for what it is like to labour in a Hong Kong Hospital. I will try to be brief....
You cannot have your partner with you on the labour ward. Fair enough. Same rules apply in the UK. I got told to 'sssshhhhh' by a very busy midwife who had received complaints from the lady in the bed next to me. I was contracting every 2 mins by the time I had actually made it to hospital, I was in a whole world of pain. Telling me to shush only made me louder! I was made to take off my clothes (very difficult when alone and contracting every two mins) put on a hospital gown, had a TENS machine whacked on me and when I tried to hold the offending midwifes hand mid way through contraction she practically threw me off her. It was all so hurried. I just wanted to have some help and support but of course I didn't get any. She was too busy being under staffed. I was told to bounce on a birthing ball, so I went over to the window overlooking HK (amazing view!) and sat down and felt myself pushing already so I was told to sit in a wheelchair and was wheeled very quickly to the delivery suite (bashing my ankles on the doors and bruising them). I was desperate for some water. I wasn't allowed my drinking bottle (which i carried at all times in hot and humid HK) or any personal belongings in the delivery suite. When I gave birth to William I had a photo of my Mum on the window ledge, but wasn't allowed this time. I was told to lay on the bed when all I wanted was to get up and rock. I wanted to have a drink and I wanted to rock, god damn it I should have just got up off the bed and done things my way, but going from 1 to 10 cm in the blink of an eye my contractions were on top of each other and crippling me, causing immense panic in my mind and I was LOUD. I was allowed some water thankfully and then Lily was born and all became calm again. My midwife, Barbara, was barely there until time for delivery, so Matt and I were alone to labour, which was scary, because I wasn't used to labouring so quickly, my first labour was very different to this one.
The staff did their jobs and everything went well, I cannot ask for more, but if going to a private hospital was an option for me, as so many people do, then I would have done it. What made the experience easier for me was that this was my second baby, and I knew what to expect.
For me labour is a wonderful experience. Your body does all the work and you need to respond accordingly, if I do have another baby one day, and all goes well, I will have a water birth, and be free to move around at will and have a lovely support network around me of my husband and strong women..... see all this talking about my experience of giving birth abroad hasn't put me off having another.... one day.
Comments