Positive Experiences Do Exist: Giving Birth at a Chinese Hospital

Positive Experiences Do Exist: Giving Birth at a Chinese Hospital
Jun 24, 2014 By Jenny He , eChinacities.com

Growing a small human inside you for nine months before pushing it – in what most imagine to be extreme pain – into the world is a fairly terrifying prospect for any new mother. The prospect of giving birth in a foreign country, away from family and friends, is therefore a particularly daunting prospect, and is often the subject of detailed discussion among expats.  Whilst international hospitals are a top choice, many insurance companies do not include maternity or birth complications in their cover.

Giving birth in China
Photo: David Leo Veksler

Tara’s story

Tara Laing, from Canada, moved to China four months into her second pregnancy, and found herself traversing the unknown realms of the Chinese maternity ward, without foreign health insurance.

“The first time I went to the hospital it was so confusing and scary I went home in tears,” says Tara. After finding a Chinese friend who arranged an appointment, Tara returned the following week and was surprised to have an English speaking obstetrician. “She was the head of the department, and from Hong Kong, and was absolutely brilliant.” 

Bureaucracy is something many have come to associate with China, and this is especially present in hospitals, where the non-VIP section requires you to pay upfront in cash for each service at the reception desk rather than use a direct-billing insurance card. Tara found a less stressful way to manage the system: “Basically, my doctor would make my next appointment with me while I was there because she was one of very few that could speak English in the hospital. She would then tell me what I had to do on my next visit and I would write notes about where to go. I would then go and pay for all the services that I would require in the next visit.”

Tara discovered she was able to find her way around the hospital with very little Chinese, and the card system which the hospital used to record payment for treatments ordered proved very efficient. “At each area, I took a number and then waited to be called, and when I gave them my card, they could scan it and tell from that which tests the doctor had ordered and also whether or not I had already paid – I still marvel at the efficiency of this system! All test results were recorded and by the time I got back to see my doctor, she would scan my card and could see what the latest data was. It sounds like a long process, but I was usually only there for about an hour.” The international wings differ mainly in that you don’t need to wait for each appointment, and should you need to walk to different clinics, a nurse accompanies you for the duration.

Chinese hospitals – not just a source of horror stories

Fear of the hygiene and medical standards in Chinese hospitals is a common concern; some insurance companies advise against undergoing certain procedures in China due to the quality of blood products and surgical standards.

Tara had an overall positive experience of the Chinese health system. “I got scans regularly (more regularly than friends at home) and health checks monthly. A normal visit would then require me to go first to a station where I gave a pee sample, then another place for a blood sample, if I was getting a scan I would then go for that and toward the end I would also go to another place for foetal heart rate monitoring.”

Communicating with Chinese medical staff can be difficult not only because of the language barrier, but also the cultural differences in bed-side-manner. This is one problem Tara came across in the latter stages of her pregnancy: “In one of my last appointments, around New Years Eve, my doctor was away because she had left for Christmas. I was seen by another doctor who in broken English, and not very tactfully, told me the baby was too big and might be in danger. This obviously sent me into a panic (and subsequently ruined New Years).” 

Tara booked an appointment with her regular doctor who tackled her fears. “She said that although the baby was big, it wasn't too big, it's just that compared with the average Chinese baby it was off the scale (literally, the scale that they showed me ended at about three point something kilos)”. Doctors in international hospitals are more used to treating foreign patients, which makes such situations less common. 

The doctor suggested they induce labour, but several hours later labour had still not begun.  The doctor and Tara then discussed performing a C-section to deliver the baby. Some people worry that they will be pressured into a procedure by foreign medical staff, or not fully understand what is being offered to them. Tara found no such difficulties when making a decision: “I was in no way coerced – this was my second baby and the first was a very difficult and traumatic natural birth, so I was not keen to push for anything against the doctor’s suggestions.” Tara had a C-section that morning.

Cultural differences at Chinese hospitals

Cultural differences often surface in Chinese hospitals; there are whole wings dedicated to the sneezing flu-sufferers hooked up to IV drips and herbal remedies are often prescribed in conjunction with antibiotics. The maternity wards boast several cultural differences.  “Spouses are not allowed in the theatre with you, which is something that would be different at home. The other surprise here was that food is not provided, so my husband had to bring food daily for me.” This can even be the case in international hospitals where you can use companies to have food delivered to your room.

Tara found another difference on the Chinese maternity ward: “The other surprising thing was that you are expected to provide all your own things like pads, cotton balls for cleaning, my husband had to go and buy those plastic sheets that go under you for leakage and things like that. It was all very DIY, which seemed fine for the locals because most of them had an entourage of at least four people: mums, dads, in laws, ayis, etc.”

Traditionally after giving birth in China a woman is not allowed to shower for one month lest she catch cold. The same fear is ascribed to newborns, as Tara discovered:  “Another cultural difference was having to argue that my son was fine with only a sleep suit and blanket and didn't need 10,000 blankets even though it was snowing, because the thermostat was set at about 28 degrees.”

Privacy is on a very different scale in Chinese hospitals; injections are administered in a dedicated room where you line up and see the nurse one after the other, patients will walk in to the consultation room unannounced whilst you are seeing the doctor, and the A&E department has no curtains separating patients. In-patients have the option of shared rooms or private rooms with higher prices for the fewer people per room. “My first night after the birth was spent on a ward with four other women and babies separated from me by a curtain,” Tara explains. “This experience would have been very traumatic for some I believe, but the drugs helped! I was moved to a private room the following day where I stayed for a full week and was treated very well indeed. The room was enormous, and like a very large hotel room, with sofas, telly, fridge and microwave.”

Medical insurance coverage

Many medical insurance companies do not provide cover for maternity or complications with birth so it is important to be aware of the limitations of your insurance policy and plan for the financial ramifications. Choosing a Chinese hospital is much cheaper than an international ward. “It was ridiculously cheap, I can't remember but I think it was in the realm of 8000 RMB for the C-section and one week stay. The money needed to be pre-loaded on to my card and when it ran out, they asked us to top up,” says Tara.   

Insurance limitations, though, are not the only reason you might find yourself being treated in a Chinese hospital. If your chosen location is too far away from your home should there be a complication you may be taken to a local Chinese hospital for emergency treatment. This is something you need to ask when booking your maternity package. Many cities have professional translation companies who offer specific medical-care translation should this be a concern. 

International hospitals feel safer because of the familiar setting and English-speaking staff.  Whilst a Chinese hospital may seem daunting at first, the system is not particularly complex:  “I found the whole experience very positive,” Tara concludes.

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Keywords: Chinese hospitals giving birth at a Chinese hospital

7 Comments

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Irfan100

As I know Chinese doctors are good , just communication problem

Jan 19, 2015 20:11 Report Abuse

Guest2072910

I only heard horror stories about Chinese hospitals from my foreign mother-to be friends. I still believe it's better to go back to your country to deliver or at least address to an international hospital.

Jun 24, 2014 23:49 Report Abuse

coineineagh

A bullshit apologist article on Chinese hospitals. They're all big moneymaking scams. The scarcer real medicine is in lajitongguo, the more money the sick and dying people are forced to cough up. It's not "cultural" difference, here: Foreigners are simply not accustomed to a hostile atmosphere where we must hope and pray that the witchdoctor we're paying to treat us might have some small modicum of rationality and competence, and doesn't consciously decide to harm us instead. My Chinese wife was forced into having a C-section, and she's a nurse who hoped that connections in the largest local hospital might secure her some good treatment. No epidural for labour, or any painkiller of any kind. I can't be sure if she was given a muscle-tensing medicine, but after 20 hours of painful labour, I find it hard to believe that 3cm dilation is natural. Then she "chose" to have that horrific C-section. All this customer service, because a C-section earns the hospital 4x a natural birth. My wife is physically and emotionally scarred for life. I'm sure it's just a coincidence that her decision to 'never have another baby' suits China's child-reduction-policy perfectly.

Jun 24, 2014 11:36 Report Abuse

sharkies

Yes I agree. There is nothing nice about Chinese hospitals at all! I'm sick of reading these sugar-coated, crappy pieces of writing trying to convince everyone that China is a wonderful place and that foreigners are so happy here...blah blah. The fact is, China is light years behind the rest of the world when it comes to providing international services and infrastructure. I work with Chinese hospitals here with the business I am in, and I can tell you first hand that they are absolutely shocking. I often wonder if some of the writers of these articles are working for the Chinese government.

Jun 24, 2014 17:46 Report Abuse

coineineagh

it makes sense. instead of working to improve services, just write stories that pretend everything works well. fits the modus operandi of chinagov perfectly.

Jun 24, 2014 22:25 Report Abuse

fueramanta

Hey hey, Chinese hospital are nice, it's just up to whether you are rich and willing to make the doctor rich too. That doctors in China just care for giving you the most expensive medicine just cos they get benefit from it, yes, that's true. Also that they don't give a fuck in their attitude while you are being diagnostic by them, just cos there is so much people in this country that if you don't listen to them someone else will, yes, that's also true. Coineineagh, sometimes is better to lie oneself in order to feel good, that to see the real truth which makes one feel like shit. Especially Chinese people have no much option in this, even if they do something to change it, is the government who have the last word. This country was far better in the past than is now in the present, a shame i was not born earlier...

Jun 29, 2014 20:12 Report Abuse

fueramanta

Chinese hospitals are not bad cos they don't use western medicine, is because their attitude to the patients that are not rich is awful. Foreign things making China better??? By the Chinese government knowing that those western things can make them earn much more money already means they are making it worse. Please explain in which points those things make China better, do not just write it. Chinese traditional medicine is Chinese culture, and by saying that is a joke does not break the fact that was very useful in the past and at this moment. A lot people use it and is more healthy than western medicine, slower effect though. Please explain why you hate Chinese medicine so much, do not just hate it... and write it.

Jun 29, 2014 20:00 Report Abuse