Chengdu's Angel Hospital

In my earlier post, I said I'd write about my experience at the newest maternity hospital here. Angel Hospital (安琪儿妇产医院) is billed as an ultra modern and luxurious private maternity hospital in Chengdu. It started its operations late last year with a media blitz - billboards on pedestrian sidewalks, bus-stops, back of buses... probably in print and tv medium as well, just that I'm not aware of those.


It felt like entering the lobby of a hotel - marble flooring, a vaulted ceiling surrounded by Corinthian columns and a massive chandelier. A bevy of svelte ladies in smart uniforms greeted me; 1 of them addressed my concern and ushered me to the reception on the second floor. No, not to fill in the official registration papers as I expected but to make a payment to see the doctor. That done, I was ushered into a room where my blood pressure & weight were taken by a junior doctor apparently. This nice lady doctor then ushered me to another room to see the senior obstetrician who answered whatever questions I had and assessed my medical condition. As I had requested for the 4D ultrasound scan, I was brought to a waiting area to wait for my turn at the sonographer's lab. The scan done, I was brought back to the obstetrician's office where she insisted the fetal heartrate be heard using the doppler EVEN though a while ago, the sonographer had seen and heard the heartrate. "I just want to hear it for myself," she said. So for the second time that day, I had the yucky gooey lubricant smeared on my belly :P

As I made my appointment for the next visit, I was vastly surprised that the date and timing were entirely at my disposal.

Is July 4th ok?
- yes, that's alright.
what about 10am?
- You can come in anytime.
huh...?
- we're here for you.

My contact numbers, date of appointment were all scribbled on a piece of paper. No centralized database existed as far as I could see. And definitely no computerized system for scheduling. And there was certainly no patient's reference number or card. It felt like I was buying a McChicken.

The next stop was the urine test. I was given a plastic cup with a lid to pee in. The ladies' room did not disappoint. Swanky, new, all marble EXCEPT that the cubicle didn't have a ledge for the cup. The junior lady doctor then brought me to the lab counter where specimens were deposited. No sticker with my name on the cup.. it was just placed on a printed form which I supposed mentioned my name and stated that I'd paid for the lab test. 20cm away was a similar cup of pale yellow liquid. The possibility of someone committing mischief or making a mistake is kind of high, isn't it?

Finally, as this was my first visit, I was given a tour of the wards. Most were single bed rooms with a nice sofa and plasma tv. The suites had an adjoining room with a bed and a kitchenette with a small dining table. It was luxuriously beautiful and felt more like a hotel than a hospital.

Yet somehow, it missed the mark for me. Despite all the marble and cherubs spouting fountains, I couldn't shake off the feeling that underneath all the glam, there wasn't much substance down there. Sure, they may have great obstetricians with years of experience and have bought the latest technology but do their internal processes work seamlessly to provide the best medical care especially in an emergency? In Information Science, the success of a company depends not on its individual parts but on how well each part is integrated with each other: people, technology, process, culture etc.

Finally, I had a nagging concern: what if there was a medical emergency with the mother or newborn? I didn't see any neonatal wards and there was only one neonatal specialist listed on Angel's prospectus - the great majority were obstetricians/gynecologists while the rest were midwives. Nice plasma tvs but Angel Hospital will not be my first choice to birth in.

39.4

It was a horrible start to any day. I woke up to check on minibeanie's temperature (for he had been running a fever the past 1.5 days) at 7 in the morning and was shocked to read 39.4. That number jolted DH out of his sleep and we decided that a trip to the hospital was called for. We would normally have gotten him to the clinic but this being a weekend, it was closed.

I was dreading the hospital because it was after all a Chinese hospital; let's face it, Chengdu was not Beijing or Shanghai. My apprehension was fully justified on reaching the hospital. It was over run by people. Chaos reigned. I managed to locate the reception cum information desk by virtue of a nurse behind a counter being surrounded by hordes of pushing Chinese all asking questions at the same time. I managed to elbow in and finally got my question across and was then directed to a registration booth down the hallway. I registered, got a card for Y9 and was given a thermometer. After 5 agonizing minutes, we gave the thermometer back to the nurse and was told 38.1. There was a collective sigh of relief.

As it didn't seem like an ER situation, we were then directed to the "Children's clinic #1" - a room further down the hallway. We gave our form to the attending nurse who then lined it at the back of a row of forms by the window. This would be our queue. There were 2 doctors facing each other in the room. Little patients and their caregivers would be standing or sitting on the 2 stools facing the doctors.

Calm cannot be used to describe the scene in and outside of the clinic. There were simply too many people around compounded by screaming parents calling after their wayward shrieking kids, crying babies in obvious discomfort and the general population who must talk with raised voices.

We waited patiently for our turn (half an hour, I was told). About 2m behind us stood a security guard which was rather perculiar I thought. DH said it was because we were the only foreigners. minibeanie appeared to be in good spirits. He was entertained by dada's silly antics and the occasional teddy bear cookie, his all time favourite. It was such a relief that he seemed his normal self.

After half an hour or so, it was our turn. The doctor noted the symptoms, listened on the stethoscope, pried open a very reluctant baby's mouth and diagnosed it as upper respiratory infection. Over all, the lady doctor was professional. If she seemed brief it was because the clinic was run like a sausage operation in a non too pleasant environment. She seemed kindly enough and even switched to English when I was struggling with Chinese medical terms.

After that, we took the form with the scribbled prescription (it's a universal fact that doctor's handwriting is illegible!) and headed out to get our medication. First a visit to the cashier where I paid Y54, followed by another queue at the drug counter to get the fever and diarrhoea medications. Finally at 10, we spilled out of the hospital to a bright but slightly chilly day. Relief!


Today, minibeanie had fewer rummy tummy episodes compared to the past 2 days :) Let's pray that he's on the mend. We were told that diarrhoea could last for up to a week and the fever for 3-4 days. It's strange how we left Chengdu in t-shirts and shorts 2 weeks ago but return to long-sleeved fleece sweaters. Thanks to the change in temperatures, it's now the start of the flu season.


minibeanie is 1 year, 2 months, 2 weeks & 1 day old

The past few days...

2 days after minibeanie's arrival, we were discharged on my birthday. What a birthday present from God :) ... But honestly, I wasn't in any celebratory mood. The physical aftermath of the delivery was still very raw & painful, I hadn't slept for more than 2 hours straight and there was the worrying news that minibeanie had jaundice.

We went back to the hospital for a follow up the next day and found that minibeanie's jaundice had indeed risen to a level that warrant the blue-light treatment. Well, we've now been staying here for 2 days. minibeanie was put on a 2-3 hourly feed (jaundice makes the baby lethargic & often sleep longer than they should). And since the hospital's policy is full rooming-in, we took charge of all feeds & diaper changes just like we would at home.

Thankfully, minibeanie has responded well to the 'force feeding' routine and blue-light treatment. Tonight, we were told that we could switch off the blue-light lamp (we could finally see his eyes when he sleeps!) and tomorrow we would very likely be going home :)

Male bonding

A hungry minibeanie
5 days old