Hospital could be facing censure over birth notices

A LEADING private hospital could face censure from medical authorities for funding newspaper birth notices which praise the hospital on behalf of the parents.

The Hong Kong Adventist Hospital has been accused by obstetricians of seeking congratulatory publicity with the notices and of flouting a code of conduct which outlaws advertising involving doctors.

The ethics committee of the Hong Kong Medical Association has deemed the hospital's practice of paying for the birth notices improper, sources said.

Women waiting to give birth at the Adventist Hospital are invited to fill in the blank sections of a birth notice which ends with: ''We wish to thank all the midwives and staff at the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital.'' They are told the $488 bill will be paid by the hospital.

One parent said yesterday: ''They told us they would arrange the whole thing and take care of the bill. All we had to do was fill in our names.'' ''There are some rumours that certain hospitals are inducing patients to do this kind of thing,'' the association's honorary secretary and member of the Medical Council, Dr So Kai-ming, said.

''There is nothing wrong with notices that 'so and so is grateful for the birth of their son', but they should be voluntarily placed by parents as a mark of their gratitude.

''If a hospital is paying for it or making it part of a package, it contravenes the policy and professional etiquette of the medical profession.