Partners left disappointed after Hong Kong public hospitals bring back ban on delivery rooms to protect pregnant women amid Covid-19 surge
- Fathers disappointed they cannot be with partners for babies’ arrival, as ban returned on February 16
- Hospital Authority to review arrangements once Covid-19 situation improves, but for now it applies to all
Hong Kong resident Nick Jones was ready to be by his wife’s side on February 16 for the birth of their first child when he was told he could not be in the delivery room.
Faced with a surge in Covid-19 infections, the city’s public hospitals have reinstated a ban on partners being present for the birth of their babies.
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While he understood the critical Covid-19 situation, the lack of information was frustrating and his wife was not told before going into labour that he would not be allowed to be present.
“For my wife to suddenly have that support taken away, it was a shock,” said Jones, who works in media.
His wife, 37, an entrepreneur, was on her own when she gave birth to a boy. Jones only saw his baby as the mother and child were being moved from the delivery ward.
“Seeing him for the first time was amazing, but it was also a bit chaotic as I was following this bed being wheeled rapidly between one ward and another,” Jones said.
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Since the middle of last month, Hong Kong has seen a surge in Covid-19 cases as part of a fifth wave of infections. Health authorities confirmed 6,067 new infections on Sunday.
The Hospital Authority, which oversees all public hospitals, imposed a ban on partners in the delivery room during the city’s third and fourth waves of infection.
In a statement to the Post, it said it had reintroduced the ban from February 16 “to further strengthen infection control measures” in light of the rapidly changing Covid-19 situation.
The measure was taken to protect pregnant women from infection as well as a health care-associated outbreak in hospitals, it said.
It added that the arrangement would be reviewed from time to time, depending on the Covid-19 situation.
Private hospitals still allow fathers to be present in the delivery room, but most couples cannot afford the privilege. Private hospitals charge above HK$60,000 (US$8,000) for a delivery, compared with between HK$300 and HK$1,500 for Hong Kong identity card holders at public hospitals.
When Hongkonger Joanne Li* gave birth to her second daughter at Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung on February 7, her husband was not allowed to be there.
The 34-year-old media professional said she believed the hospital was one of the first to reinstate the ban on partners as there had been an outbreak at Kwai Chung Estate.
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When she had her first baby three years ago, her husband sat behind her during labour, holding her head and encouraging her to push.
“This time it was so different because I was alone,” she said. “It was more painful and I kept thinking, ‘I cannot do it.’ I almost wanted to give up.”
Although the nurses allowed her quick calls to her husband, it was not the same as having him beside her.
“I think the moment of delivery is very magical and I wish he could have experienced it,” she said.
Her husband had to wait outside hospital until she was being wheeled from the labour ward, and rode in the lift with her to meet their new baby girl.
“He waited for three hours to have three minutes with us,” she said.
Dr Kun Ka-yan, an obstetrician in private practice, said having a partner present was good support for a woman about to give birth.
While public hospitals might be concerned about the extra workload from doing urgent PCR tests for fathers, he said there ought to be no problem if the partner had a Covid-19 test done privately before going into the labour room.
Kun said the recent images of crowds waiting in public hospital car parks for Covid-19 tests had raised fears of infection, and some of his pregnant patients had asked to switch to giving birth at a private facility.
He said he reassured them that infection control measures at all hospitals were strict, but he still made urgent arrangements to book four of his patients into private hospitals last week.
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Australian Todd Hislip, 32, a designer who has lived in Hong Kong for two years, considered a private hospital for his partner to give birth, but found it too expensive.
He thought it was “not really fair” to ban partners in public hospitals while the better off could be in the private hospitals’ delivery rooms.
His partner, Australian Meaghan Williams, 35, a designer too, is due to give birth to their first child early next month at Queen Mary Hospital.
She said that while the ban was not completely unexpected, she was disappointed because both of them had been triple vaccinated and followed all the hospital guidelines in the belief that Hislip could be with her on the day.
She said an additional worry was whether she or her baby would get infected with Covid-19.
“It is a risk now, especially at a hospital that is at capacity. It definitely plays on your mind a lot,” she said.
* Name changed at interviewee’s request.
