Having a baby in SZ

You are moving to a third world country which has third world level medical care. You will be living only 45 minutes away from Hong Kong, which has excellent medical care even when compared to Canada, Europe or USA.

I would strongly urge you to have your baby in Hong Kong. The Adventist Hospital is excellent, but there are also many other good hospitals in Hong Kong.

Link to Adventists

http://www.hkah.org.hk/new/eng/index.htm

For example the Adventist hospital's doctors and nurses all speak excellent English, and most of the doctors are traiined in the UK. There rooms are very clean, and private or semi private rooms are available.

I have been in China for a long time, and have experienced medical care here and in Hong Kong. I think I can summarize this best for you by saying that if you were my wife, and this was my child, I would not even consider a China hospital.

There are no "International Hospitals" in Guangzhou or Shenzhen that have a complete level of services and technology, and none that could even be compared to an average hospital in Hong Kong.

Think it over, this is a your first child, it should be a wonderful magical experience! You deserve the best care.

I wish you great luck in the birth of your child, and in your life here in Shenzhen.

Congratulations!

Thanks a lot for your advice. I am leaning more towards HK, but I'm worried about how soon my baby can come back to China with me. Can it go on my passport? I will by then be on a spousal visa (of another foreign resident). I've definitely taken the road less traveled on this one...
Again thanks for your advice. I will look into the Adventist hospital and hopefully visit there next month.
Best~

That is an interesting point, I did not think about a visa and passport. I have gotten a China visa in Hong Kong for a 4 month old before, it was no problem, but we had a passport. I do not think the child can go on your passport, but I really am not sure. You can get a visa in HK in a matter of hours, but without the passport I think you can not.

You might contact the Canadian Embassy or Consulate in Hong Kong. They might be able to get a passport quickly for you. I got my renewal of a passport here inside of China and it only took about one week.

The child is going to need a passport at some point, so I would talk to the Hong Kong Embassy and see how quick they can get you one. Hey, you know everyone loves to help and new mother and baby, maybe then can turn one fast for you. Then the Visa is no problem.

Yes, you certainly are on the road less traveled, but that is was makes it fun!

Hi I am also an expat here and have lived here for 6 years. My baby was born in Shenzhen, at the Beijing university hospital (meilin district). And i have no complaints about their service, the facilities or the level of care that they gave me. They have some doctors and nurses who speak english. I go to the 6th floor (VIP - outpatient) area for my monthly check up and i stayed at the 13th floor (VIP area) for 9 days as i delivered via c section. This area looks like a hotel actually. Very clean. My baby is 5 years old now, healthy and happy. The only thing you need to be prepared for while in the hospital is that they do not have food, so you need someone to get your food for you. And the best part, my delivery, plus the hospital stay of 9 days, plus a private english speaking nurse service cost less than 12thousand rmb.

I'm living in Shenzhen for few years and had my first baby in Hong-Kong 3 years ago. Hong-Kong hospitals are indead clean, service is nice and both nurses and doctors speaks very well english.

When the baby is born you must tell the Hospital to declare the birth (They usually have 40 days to do it but you can apply for the fast procedure).
Then you should go to the HongKong birth and death registration office with your husband to get the birth certificate (take several, it can be usefull in the future. The hospital can take care of your baby during this time).
One's you have the birth certificate, you can apply for a passport and visa in your ambassy (few days).
My husband made all the procedure wile I was in the hospital, I just had to go out 2 times and sign papers. It took 7days total after what we went back in China.

For your information, in private hospital the "birth package" does not include the Doctor fees (about 7000HK$ for birth, 1000HK$ everyday after).
They won't ask you if you want peridural, if you do, you should ask for it before birth.
Unlike HongKong, in China your husband can't be with you during birth.

If you want to move to HK hospital, you have to book a time first, since HK hospitals now are quite full recent years, coz some Chinese pregnant women also go there; and you'd better to choose a private hospital,price wise is higher, but worth it. On the other hand, your baby will have HK ID card once he/she is borned according to HK policy. HK hospitals have much more experiences on foreingers having baby in HK, when you visit the Adventist hospital, they will let you know. Don't worry.

Congrates and good luck!

Cherry

Hi
I have just a got a 3 year contract in Shenzhen, my wife are not pregnant right now, but we might want to have our second child within the next 3 years.
Therefore we would like to talk to someone who had experience about giving birth in an SZ hospital.
Hope to hear from you.

well in HK definitely services and medical standards are far way too better then SZ. however, i had my two kids born in shenzhen itself in Shenzhen 2nd people hospital in luibu. senior doctors can speak english. u can get VIP room also which is pretty comfortable. doctors are pretty experienced in case you need to undergo Caesarian. my wife underwent two C-cut and was attended by very experienced doctors.

ultiimately choice is yours. however, there is another hospital - beijing university hospital nearby lotus mountain. its equipment and overall atmosphere looks great but doctors are somewhat fresh. hence i preferred to go to a place where you have highly experienced doctors rather than to go for interior designing of the place :)

Deepak

Thanks for your advice. I don't know where Luibu is but I'll check about it. It would be far more convenient to have the baby in SZ, with medical checks and all... I heard that in China most people end up having c-sections, whereas in HK, they leave it more up to the individual. That's one of my concerns. Could I ask about total costs? If you don't want to write it here you can email me at jallore@gmail.com.
Thanks a lot~

I am also expecting and wondering whether I should go to HK for the delivery or do it in Shenzhen. Most of my friends have recommended HK, but I am leaning toward Shenzhen.

Does anyone know if babies born in HK are entitled to HK residency, even if none of the parents are HK residents?

Deepak, I would also like to know about the total cost of delivering in Shenzhen, including pre-natal doctor visits. Also, did you get the birth certificate in Chinese? And did you have to go to the Indian consulate in HK for the baby's passport?

Thanks for your help

i am really sorry . i totaly forgot that folks will be interested in my comment and be expecting my reply.

let me know if you need my help. shoot me an email - maildeepaksood@gmail.com

btw. C-cut operation costs around 5000 RMB + 1000 ( max ) RMB for pre natal check up in Luibu hospital ( chinese name ) / Shenzhen peoples hospital ( english name ). doctors/nurses are highly experienced. the doctor which operated on my wife coincidentally was the same for both the times and she has done her medicine from UK. i do agree that one can go to HK...but if its HK, beter go for C cut so that you can get a date and plan your babies birth. i mean if its natural one, god is not going to let you know when you gonna feel the labor...i hope you got my point... anything more. shoot me on my email. i hardlycome over here and check for people waiting for my response. thanks.

total cost is around 6000. including 5 days stay after the C-cut and pre natal check up. earlier it would have costed you around 8000, but seems the cost of inpatient in hospitals has been drastically reduced.

birth certificate is in english + chinese. since my kid was born in shenzhen. i had to go to Indian consulate in BJ...however now indian consulate has been opened up in GZ... so that is cool. they will make the passport within one day ... you give application with all supportive documents in the morning and by evening your kid's passport will be ready. but i aint sure if you are indian national. :)

i made a big mistake to have a baby here in shenzhen the doctor here are just kids and dont know what they are doing also the hosp. rooms here are not pvt and the nurse does not take care of your wife you have to do i dont mind that i have to do it the room is not clean am from the us and my wife is from the philippines if i was you go to hong kong it better care

i would prefer SZ...SZ is my home for almost 6 years.Though I have my previous prenatal check up in HK (which the total amount may enough to pay all expected expenses for my delivery here SZ)...I went to HK just to make sure I will get the right prenatal medicine and medical test. But I dont think I could afford the $40,000 normal deivery 3 bedroom package.Im not after HK ID or citizenship anyway. Now that SZ offer pension/medical benifits to (registered)foreigner, this is my chance to use this benefits (after all taxes I have paid to China for years and pension contribution for almost a year now). This was guaranteed by our company...whether it will work as they said Im confident that giving birth will not be a problem at all. I will deliver my baby in Beijing University Hospital in Lianhua Bei.

What is this pension benefit for foreigners you are talking about?

I heard they were going to introduce it as a trial in Shanghai earlier this year but nothing has happened as far as I know.

Where do you find out the details?

Thanks