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SCMP Reporter

A group of mainland women and their Hong Kong husbands and supporters  blocked an entrance  at Hospital Authority headquarters yesterday in protest at the authority's recent decision to stop taking bookings from to give birth at public hospitals.
The angry women  claimed  they had a human right to give birth here.
The recent authority decision  suspends childbirth bookings by mainland women for four months from today. The  move, according to the authority, is to ensure adequate provision for local mothers during the peak obstetric  season.
But with private hospitals also reporting full bookings,  pregnant  mainlanders might have nowhere to go.
Some 20 mainland mothers, their Hong Kong husbands and supporters marched to the authority's headquarters in Ho Man Tin after a brief rally in Mong Kok.
They carpeted the ground outside a main entrance  with banners and placards,  shouting slogans accusing the authority of being inhumane.
Finally, the group used the banners to cover the main entrance, and symbolically sealed it with two big paper banners that read: 'Hospital Authority rejects pregnant women. It should be closed and deserves to be condemned.'
A couple of  security guards locked the entrance and kept watch from behind the glass doors inside the main lobby. The protesters dispersed after an authority representative came out to receive their petition letter.
Caritas social worker Tsang Koon-wing, a protest organiser, said: 'There is no point having the authority if it refuses to take care of pregnant women. So we are here to seal it to help the public save money.'
The row over mainlanders coming to give birth here started brewing about two years ago. Some people said the influx of mainland women - who can gain Hong Kong residency for their children - had strained health facilities. To stop the influx, the authority increased fees for obstetric packages for non-locals to HK$39,000 in February last year  to supplement an immigration policy requiring mainlanders who are 28 weeks or more pregnant to show a booking certificate issued by a hospital when entering Hong Kong.
A judicial review brought by a grandfather in an effort to block the policy will be heard in the High Court from September 18. Fok Siu-wing, 66, says his mainland daughter-in-law should get free medical services as his son is a Hong Kong resident.
The authority could not be reached for comment last night.



Protest over hospital freeze on bookings by mainland mothers