Recent arrivals
By Namrita Chow (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-04 09:41
 |
Large Medium Small |
It is becoming increasingly common for Shanghai expats to give birth in the city, rather than return to their own country. Namrita Chow reports
As more foreigners settle in Shanghai, increasing numbers of mothers-to-be are faced with the dilemma of whether to give birth here, or return to their country of origin.
Many are opting to stay and at the Shanghai United Family Hospital, 600 women are expected to give birth this year, 100 more than last year.
Parkway Health, near Xintiandi, another international private hospital, says 30 to 35 women with foreign passports give birth at their facility every month. In the past five years, a Parkway representative said, they have seen significant increases in the numbers of foreign women choosing to give birth here.
The obstacles seem immense - language barriers, lack of adequate imported baby food, not enough prenatal classes, loneliness and not knowing how to find other mothers-to-be who are in similar situations. These are the cons, but, there are pros as well.
These are, your husband or partner is with you through the whole process, you have an ayi or two to help, the medical facilities are good and usually covered by international health insurance - and this is where you live.
The choice between staying in Shanghai or leaving and having a baby in your home country is tough, but there are many reasons to stay.
Thirty-five-year-old Hannah Carter, from England, says: "It is important to stay with my husband and go through the pregnancy and birth together."
And 34-year-old Sophie Wall, also from England says: "Despite not having a command of Chinese, (I find that) Shanghai is quite an easy place for Westerners to live."
She gave birth to a baby girl in January last year.
Camay Tan, who is in her mid-30s, is a Malaysian married to a Frenchman, but decided to give birth in China.
"Shanghai is home, not Malaysia and not France. I wanted my husband with me the whole nine months. If I chose to give birth abroad I would have had to leave."
But deciding to have a baby here is just the beginning, a maternity hospital has to be chosen, and there are questions about what food to eat, and even where to buy a cot.
"The main difficulty I faced was access to good medical facilities," says Tan, who chose Parkway Health to give birth.
"I was very happy with the prenatal check-ups and care provided by Parkway," Wall says. "We had more scans - once a month - and tests than any of my friends back in the United Kingdom."
Lucy Favell, who is in her 30s and has returned to England since giving birth to her daughter in 2008, chose the Shanghai United Family Hospital, Changning district, because her baby needed special care and the hospital has a good intensive care unit (ICU).
"Many Shanghai hospitals don't have this, and if your baby has serious complications post birth they are likely to be sent to another hospital, like Fudan University hospital," Favell says.
"Our baby needed emergency treatment in an ICU for six days post-birth and as the Shanghai United Family Hospital has an ICU within the same ward we were able to visit our little girl whenever we wanted and I was able to breast-feed her which was very important to me."
Prenatal classes are hard to find in Shanghai. The odd yoga center does offer prenatal yoga but not many are highly rated. Often, for expectant mothers, these prenatal classes are crucial for meeting other expatriate mothers and sharing the process of having a baby in a foreign land.
Shanghai United does offer a six-week prenatal course. Carter and her husband took the course, along with 15 other couples.
"Everyone attending seemed to feel at ease and we were able to ask as many silly questions as we liked. It makes everything much less scary and reminds us that thousands of ladies are doing this every day," Carter says
Prenatal aqua aerobics is offered at Le Meridian hotel and other hotels may offer similar services.
Parkway Health offers a one session prenatal course. The website www.shanghai-mama.com is touted as a good place to mine information.
Food is another dilemma for both expectant moms and for babies born here. After the recent milk formula scandal, many mothers are worried about it and feel safer buying imported goods. Organic food can be found at major supermarkets and from organic food suppliers such as Helekang. Tan bought organic food from www.helekang.com
If you are planning to have a baby in Shanghai, it is important to make sure you think through the pros and cons, and ensure you are covered with adequate medical insurance, as having a baby here is expensive at expat-friendly, English-speaking medical centers, such as Parkway and Shanghai United.