Dad
I am going to be a dad in four months time. I am nervous about this, not so much about being a dad - which I am intensely looking forwards to - but about the Chinese hospitals. They are concentration camps of ill-health, where all power emanates from the consultants downwards. Nurses are not so much there to help you as to bolster their feeling of power and superiority. Patients have next to zero say in anything that goes on. To be seen by a doctor (no appointment system) you have to queue up to buy a ticket - good hospitals have the highest demand, meaning you have to queue at 6am or even earlier, as they get snatched up by the desperate and by scalpers. There's no rota system either, so you have to take the the day off work as hospitals only have a skeleton staff on at the weekend. Everything is privatised and has a financial imperative, so doctors are known to recommend unncessary procedures just to generate more income. Basic human dignities, like privacy, is almost unknown; if you're having a consultation, other people will barge in, demanding to be seen or wondering what's taking you so long.

So I'm nervous alright. Be thankful for the NHS!
(McChinaman banned, Fri 26 Nov 2010, 2:40, 8 replies)

I'm in pretty much exactly the same position,
the baby's due in February. I'm not allowed to be with my wife, not even during the birth or ultrasound, so am having to do a lot of waiting in corridors.
I really fucking hate Chinese hospitals.
( Zuowan, Fri 26 Nov 2010, 4:06, closed)

Bingo. Exactly the same with us
I can't begin to convey how much I hate Chinese fucking hospitals.
(McChinaman banned, Fri 26 Nov 2010, 6:18, closed)

Did you consider going back to the UK to have the baby?
We investigated it but it was all too much trouble in the end, especially as she'd need to be a permanent resident.
The way I see it, the baby's going to be a British citizen, so it should be at least a bit easier.
Oh well, fingers crossed, eh?
( Zuowan, Fri 26 Nov 2010, 8:11, closed)

Yeah, same
Chinese wife. We're in Beijing which should hopefully have better docs than some small town. Hope all goes well with you.
(McChinaman banned, Fri 26 Nov 2010, 10:13, closed)

Good luck for the birth.
That vasectomy I had seems like a good investment now! Can you not just go to a different province? I suppose she has to have the birth where she's registered? Fingers crossed, the only time I step into a hospital here, I only go as far as the front desk to chat up/practice my Mandarin on the foxy nurses. They do look HOT in those uniforms...although I get the feeling they wouldn't be much use if you ran in off the street with blood pouring from a massive head wound! Just hope I haven't jinxed myself, now............
(Mao's stepson is doing his bit for East/West relation's, Fri 26 Nov 2010, 14:53, closed)

Actually...
I should say 'births'.
(Mao's stepson is doing his bit for East/West relation's, Fri 26 Nov 2010, 14:55, closed)

I'm pretty much confessing my ingorance of international health care...
Any chance of a midwife for a home birth, or anything like that?
(ladydyani, Fri 26 Nov 2010, 16:55, closed)

Midwife, you say?
Sadly, I think a lot of Chinese have a very different understanding of the terms 'midwife' and 'home birth'....especially if it's a girl. A friend of mine was offered one a while back for 10,000 RMB (Around 1000GBP). Very sad, especially when you see how cute Chinese babies are!
(Mao's stepson is doing his bit for East/West relation's, Sun 28 Nov 2010, 17:03, closed)