Being Pregnant in China
Being pregnant in a foreign country brings a bit extra stress to an expecting woman, especially when it comes to deciding where to give birth. I interviewed five women who all gave birth in Guangzhou or Foshan to share their experiences.
Choosing the hospital
When it comes to choosing where to give birth, the locations of the hospital is very important. Also recommendations from friends count a lot, as do a visit to the hospital.
- It is close to where I live. Several friends gave birth there and recommended it. It also has a good reputation for medical excellence------Jingxi Nanfang Hospital, Guangzhou.
- It was reasonable and have very good English-speaking doctors. They are very helpful at the hospital in all the sections------Guangzhou women and children hospital.
- It was next to our home… We heard more good comments than bad, our friends had babies there as well------Maternal and child hospital in Tianhe.
- Good impression of doctors and facilities------Guangzhou Elizabeth Women’s Hospital.
- I was looking for a hospital which would let me have a VBAC. I knew a doctor who worked there, and one of my friends had 3 children there------Mother and Children Hospital in Foshan (VIP department).
Birthing experience
When it comes to being satisfied with the hospital of your choice or not, the birthing experience is high on the list of course. When making your choice, try to gather experiences from many sources to get the full picture. There isn’t a hospital that would be perfect for everyone.
Very satisfied but I was also very lucky that I was the only one in the delivery room at that time, so I could get up and move around as I wanted and have our doula present------Jingxi Nanfang Hospital.
Yes very much satisfied. I stayed at the hospital for 6 days and it gave me a lot of time to recover from my unplanned c-section------Guangzhou women and children hospital.
Well would be nice if they would have some courses for new moms, for example how to prepare breasts for feeding. I felt the information wasn’t enough. We couldn’t even get information on the prices, only when we left the hospital.
I don’t understand till now, why when we would go for check up every time – we would stay with the doctor for 10-15 min, but Chinese would take at least half an hour. And almost every time doctor would mention to me c-section, even I didn’t have any problem (ok I was big but she should feel and by scan should know that my baby’s size is good for natural birth. So I felt that it was a bit planned from doctor already.
I was late 6 days, when I came they told me if you won’t deliver till 7am we will help you. In my country doctors first doing everything to give u a chance to delivery by yourself. Not so much information, just paper signing even when you are on the table with the big pain – a lot of papers.
After our baby was born, they didn’t put my baby on my chest. Which I really would have wanted. But I thank them still cause me and the baby are healthy. I liked there that they had ayis to help out after delivery, you had to pay money for them, but it was worth the money------Mother and child hospital in Tianhe.
Very satisfied with everything. Delivery went very well, they listened to all my wishes, and I was even allowed to give birth in water even if my water had broken (this is normally not allowed in China, but still perfectly safe)------Guangzhou Elizabeth Women’s Hospital.
I am very happy to have had a VBAC. The service was great, we had a 24-hour Ayi in our room. My husband was present all along. Nobody ever forced me to have a C-section or a medication, midwives let me try giving birth in different positions. The hospital had some gifts for us, including a photo shoot at a professional photo studio------Maternal and Children Hospital in Foshan (VIP department).
Advice for others planning to give birth in Guangzhou
The women I interviewed also gave useful advice for all the other women in the same situation.
- If you don’t speak Chinese, hire a Chinese speaking doula.
- Do research on the doctors who give you check ups, choose the one that fits for you.
- If you want an answer, sometimes you need to push the doctors to give it to you.
- Ask lots of questions, anything that comes to your mind.
- Ask if the paperwork can be done beforehand, not when you are pushing your baby out.
- Make sure the doctors and nurses support you.
- Ask how they deal with emergencies.
- Ask what they consider a natural birth is.
For more information: Giving Birth In Guangzhou – Experiences From 5 Hospitals
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