The challenge of giving birth in a Chinese hospital: getting a 母子健康档案
So my wife and I stopped by Chaoyang Hospital to reserve a room for her delivery next year, and were told we need to have a 母子健康档案 in order to reserve the room. The problem is, it seems you need to have a Beijing hukou in order to get this, but neither me or my wife is Chinese and we don't even know who to speak to about the process for getting a 母子健康档案. I can't believe that a foreigner has never reserved a room to give birth in a Chinese hospital before, so I'd love to hear from those more knowledgeable than us how a couple of foreigners in Beijing can get the 母子健康档案 to give birth in a Chinese hospital.
Cheers
Re: The challenge of giving birth in a Chinese hospital: ...
Actually I have never heard of the 母子健康档案 before, my Chinese friends who gave birth in local hospitals did need to set up her "Prenatal and Birthing record with them" and they tend to keep that as an leverage over you - means if you don't have it, they won't take you, also they won't give to you if you want to switch hospitals in the middle of prenatal months. But that was a few years ago with Beijing Maternity Hospital 北京妇产医院 (http://www.beijing-kids.com/directory/Beijing-Maternity-Hospital)
I am quite surprised by the courage of you and your wife to go to an local hospital without being able to communicate in your native language. Is the price a main reason for this choice? Have you consider some other local hospital with foreign department as an option? For example: Peking Union Medical College Hospital 北京协和医院 (http://www.beijing-kids.com/directory/Peking-Union-Medical-College-Hospi...)
Toni Ma, Operation Director
True Run Media / theBeijinger * BeijingKids * Agenda
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Re: The challenge of giving birth in a Chinese hospital: ...
Hi - sounds frustrating and confusing, but I'm sure there's a way to resolve this. It sounds like the hospital you're dealing with is not accustomed to dealing with foreigners (Chaoyang Hospital isn't well-known for treating many foreign patients). I've been there a few times (I have a US passport) and was signed to get a small procedure done on my sinuses last year and they said they would call me and never did.
I assume the doctor didn't give you any additional information on setting up this documentation? If you don't speak Chinese, perhaps ask a Chinese friend to accompany you to the hospital and ask someone at the information desk about the health certification, usually there's a straightforward answer for this as long as you can find the right person to ask. The trick is to hound whoever you are getting to help you until they actually do, or at the very least refer you to someone who can point you in the right direction.
Alternately have you considered any of the other hospital around town? My wife has a Beijing Hukou and we had our baby at Peking Medical Union Hospital, which I know handles many foreign patients, as does Sino-Japanese and of course the international clinics around town. What kind of budget are you on?
Jerry Chan, Editorial Director
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Re: The challenge of giving birth in a Chinese hospital: ...
Thanks for both of your thoughtful replies. Sorry I should have mentioned I speak ok Chinese and my wife is native-level, so we can communicate. I am not allowed in the maternity ward, though, so she has to communicate with them herself. As best I can tell, the staff there was either giving the runaround ("go see XXX to find out more") or straight up not helpful. It kinda sounds like Chaoyang Hospital will be too much trouble, though, and we will be talking with Peking Medical Union Hospital to see if they are more accommodating.
By the way, when we went to Chaoyang Hospital to set up the appointment with the ob/gyn, the first thing the receptionist said when we told her my wife is pregnant was, "chan ke haishi fu ke?"--essentially asking, "do you want to have birth or get an abortion?" Been here over nine years and I still have moments of culture shock...
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Re: The challenge of giving birth in a Chinese hospital: ...
Yeah - sounds like you really need to get to another hospital - Chaoyang Hospital is definitely not one of the more reputable ones in town. Peking Medical Union might be better, at least more foreigner friendly, but it still has its bureaucratic issues. You can read about our experiences having a baby there here, here and here.
I can also relate to the "abortion incident" - one of the doctors at PKMU told my wife that she had to abort because my wife had a chest x-ray done during a routine physical the first week of her pregnancy (we didn't know at the time).
We were pretty upset about hearing this and got second, third and fourth opinions (a couple from relatives and friends back home in the US) - all pretty much agreed that this doctor was at the very least being extreme (and trying to cover her ass) and at worse grossly unethical.
Anyway, all's well that ended well, but be mentally prepared for a rollercoaster ride during these next months.
Jerry Chan, Editorial Director
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Re: The challenge of giving birth in a Chinese hospital: ...
I agree with the others - you should find a hospital that is willing/able to deal with foreigners.
I also second the suggestion of PKU if you must go with a public hospital, though be prepared to wake up very, very early in the mornings to register.
Personally, my first choice would be to go with a private hospital such as Amcare (budget around 50k for this). Beijing is in the midst of the "baby boom" and a lot of hospitals are out of beds.
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Re: The challenge of giving birth in a Chinese hospital: ...
Thanks again. We called PKU and they are all booked up, will be looking into Amcare. A foreign friend of mine and his Chinese wife gave birth at the Beijing Maternity Hospital hihitoni mentioned above and had a reasonable experience considering it only cost RMB 5,500. No privacy at all, but everything went pretty smoothly. We can manage the cost of a foreign hospital if necessary, but it would be tight.
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Re: The challenge of giving birth in a Chinese hospital: ...
I hate to bring bad news, but the maternity hospitals (Chaoyang and Haidian) are probably a no-go as well. They are out of rooms and I have heard stories about beds/patients being put in the hallways.
By the way, Amcare is not foreign in the sense that the nurses and doctors are all Chinese, but it is a private hospital with a very good environment and I have seen many foreign couples there. If you are looking for foreign doctors, you will have to look to Beijing United but it is a lot more expensive.
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Re: The challenge of giving birth in a Chinese hospital: ...
Amcare is not what it used to be, having expanded very quickly in recent years to accommodate the increasing number of Chinese couples who prefer their facilities over local hospitals. This has impacted the amount of time you have with doctors, the ability to get appointments on short notice, and also the general waiting time involved for different procedures. Still a very good place and highly recommended, but you should try to find yourself a physician that you enjoy working with and then sticking with him/her for continued service at this hospital.
Another good option is the Sino Hospital. They are a little further away if you are in the CBD, but not that further off if you are in Shunyi. The facilities are solid and I have found that many of the physicians, while they are Chinese, are often educated overseas and many of them speak English. Solid English.
So if you are planning to give birth at Chaoyang or PKU already, you need to check these options too. Good luck.
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Re: The challenge of giving birth in a Chinese hospital: ...
I am thinking of looking into going to Amcare this time.
How much does a c-section cost there?
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Re: The challenge of giving birth in a Chinese hospital: ...
Don't quote me on this, but I believe it is low-mid 50's now for the prenatal package (around 10k more than a natural delivery).
http://www.amcare.com.cn/data/e-amcare/ServicesGuide/20080331/prenatal_c...
You should call them to get the latest pricing.
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Re: The challenge of giving birth in a Chinese hospital: ...
It is true that Amcare has expanded - their new wing is across the road, beside Beijing United. However, it is not crowded and I find their doctors to be very patient, friendly, and "unrushed" (if you have been to a public hospital here, you'll know how shockingly different of an experience this is). We've seen 3 or 4 different ob/gyn doctors now and each one has been very good at offering information, often without us asking. The same goes for the ultrasound doctors - they will describe to you what each body part is as they're doing the examination. At least this is the case if you speak/understand Chinese - I'm not sure if the experience differs for those that require English service. As for getting an appointment, they update the doctor's schedules on a monthly basis and the receptionists will tell you when the next schedule will be ready (so that you know when to book your next appointment). For emergencies, you can just show up and they will slot you in. By the way, it seems that all of the ob/gyn doctors at Amcare are female.
Yes, sometimes there can be a bit of a wait to see the doctor (ob/gyn or ultrasound) but usually no more than 30 minutes. During this time you'll get any required urine/blood tests out of the way first so after you see the doctor you are done. For morning appointments, we usually show up around 9:30 and are out by lunchtime (there is an Annie's is nearby so that is another plus). This sure beats having to get up at 4:30am to register at a public hospital!
I don't think this needs mentioning, but just in case - the facilities/environment/cleanliness/service at Amcare are what you would expect of a modern hospital in a developed country. I only have two words for the public hospitals here - overcrowded and filthy! (yes, PKU is overcrowded and filthy too)
Amcare is not just a maternity hospital - they are also a children's hospital. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who's taken their kids here for checkups/treatment.
I have heard good things about Sino Hospital, too.
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