Pregnancy at a Public Hospital

That's right. I'm insane. I'm going to have our baby at a Chinese public hospital. No, really, they aren't that bad... just... different. Very different. For my first few doctor's visits I actually saw a private doctor. She was excellent. I really, really liked her, but she cost between US$200 to US$250 every time I saw her. Even she told me that medically a public hospital is just as good as a private; it's the level of comfort and personal treatment that varies.

The exorbitant cost of delivering in a private hospital is at minimum over US$6,000 and that is just for the delivery (hospital stay + doctors' fees), no prenatal or other care included. Oh, and that fee is for a standard shared room; a single room is closer to US$10,000 for the cheapest hospital (the most expensive is upwards of US$12,000). Seeing how we are not made of money and for some crazy reason insurance in China doesn't generally cover pregnancy, we opted to go the public route. I'm a strong woman, right? I can do this, right? At least that is what I keep telling myself. Over and over and OVER. Especially as it gets closer to my due date (we're almost down to two months).

Here is a little insight into my prenatal (though they call them antenatal here) visits so far. We have two different locations for appointments--I have no idea why--but this is essentially how it goes.

Jadyn packs her purse of toys and entertainment, because you never know how long we will be there (our first appointment took two hours and the only productive thing they did, in my opinion, was draw my blood). We wait at the bus stop across from our building.

The bus ride takes about 15 minutes--not too bad. [Jadyn chose to wear her big sister outfit this day because I was getting an ultrasound and I had told her we were going to see baby brother.]

This is the hospital where we have some of our appointments and where I will be delivering.
When we get to the OB wing/floor of the hospital, we check in at the front window and the nurses give me a small sticky note with a number written on it. I then go to another room to have my blood pressure taken and then my weight is checked on the scale in the hallway. For each one the nurse writes the measurement on my sticky note and hands it back to me.

Then for my favorite part of the appointment (sense the sarcasm): the nurse asks if I brought my urine. That's right, friends, I have to bring my urine to the hospital with me, all ready to go! And I thought it was bad in Taiwan when I had to use the public restroom and then carry the paper cup down the hall to the nurse's window. No, this is worse. Having it in my purse the entire way to the appointment--no matter how tightly I screw the lid and how many bags I put it in--is just not something I am very comfortable with. After I (because the nurses won't touch the stuff--can't blame them) dip the paper slips used for the urine test and the nurse verifies it is normal, I quickly dispose of my precious (ha!) liquid in the bathroom and scour my hands. This whole time Jadyn is tailing along behind me from place to place (all the while she is asking "why this, why that").

Now we sit down in the big common room with about 90 chairs and over 30 people (see picture below) until my name and room number is called over the loud speaker, which usually happens between 30 and 60 minutes after we've arrived. [Quite a drab place, wouldn't you say?]

When we enter the room, we sit down on a chair next to a nurse at a desk. She takes my sticky note and writes my new stats down in my file. She asks me my name and due date. Easy enough. Then she asks me how far along I am; I tell her about six and a half months (this was my appointment a couple weeks ago). She asks me how many weeks along I am. I have no idea. In the 20s somewhere I suppose. I try to think and I give her a response. Apparently I was wrong because she reprimands me for not knowing. (Hey Lady, if you know, why are you asking me?!) She tells me (in a stern tone) I can only go by weeks from now on and proceeds to show me the calendar on the desk to count it out myself. I do a quick and dirty calculation and give her a number. Again, I must have been wrong because she takes her pen, points to my due date on the calendar, and proceeds to count out the weeks backwards, showing me as if I'm 8 years old and not smart enough to know how to do it myself. (Again. If YOU know, why are you asking me?!!!!!!). She continues with her questioning: "Do you have edema?" Blank stare. "Swelling?" (as she looks at my feet) "No." She tells me my weight gain is ok (thank goodness after that last month of delicious American food). She tells me when my next appointment is and writes it on a card. She lets Jade choose a sticker for being a good girl and then tells me to go out and wait for the doctor.

The seats in the big hall have signs on them that read "waiting for nurse" and "waiting for doctor." The actual doctor's visit is quick and painless: hear the heartbeat, measure the belly. We don't have to pay anything for these visits; in fact we don't pay a thing until the baby is born and even then I think it will be around US$40 (yes, that is one zero). And with that we are on our way out the door and to the mini bus stop.

The mini bus ride is quick and drops us right in front of our building.


This past Monday I had my appointment for the diabetes/glucose test. It was another interesting (aka different than America) experience. After registering I made my way to the 7th floor--to what looks like a classroom--where the test would be administered. By the time everyone arrives, there are about a dozen other pregnant women, most of whom have a spouse with them.

After a nurse stood and gave a few instructions (in Cantonese and English), we were called up, one at a time, to have our blood drawn. When it was my turn, a nurse drew two small tubes of my blood and placed it in a styrofoam carton next to the previous patients' tubes of blood. Then I had 5-10 minutes to drink a cup of warm sugar water out of a coffee cup. (see picture below; btw does anyone know how to turn off the camera noise on an iphone?)

As gross as the warm sugar water sounds, I found I actually prefer it to the thick syrup juice I drank when I was pregnant with Jadyn. It seemed to go down easier and not burn the throat so much.

After we all had finished the sugar water, a video was shown. We had to wait two hours until they drew our blood again. The video instructed us to track baby's movements starting at week 32 and continue every day until delivery; we will have to take the form to each antenatal visit. The video also informed us there are two beds in each delivery room and six beds in the postnatal rooms. We will also need to supply our own shirts and diapers for baby, and pads and underpants for mommy.

After the video a nurse instructed us to fill out consent forms, then a nurse called us up one by one to go over them. One of the forms we had to sign was called "normal vaginal delivery." Part of the form explained how an episiotomy will be given. I had some questions about it, so when it was my turn, I found it slightly uncomfortable to sit and discuss it in front of the room with the nurse, all while a couple dozen other people were within earshot.

Finally two hours had passed since our first blood sample; we were called up a final time to have our second blood sample taken. Afterwards we were given a packet of crackers and box of milk and could go home.

A lot of things are different this time around, but I just keep telling myself it is what it is and as long as the baby and I are healthy, we can get through it.