I am currently living in Beijing, China with my husband, and have become pregnant. I’m still 20 weeks pregnant, so I haven’t had any birth, but this time I would like to introduce the hospital search in Beijing and the situation of pregnancy and childbirth in China.
Finding the right hospital
Hospitals where foreigners can go are fixed
If you go to a hospital in a foreign country, of course, you should choose a hospital that understands the language. The same is true in China, but in fact there are hospitals in Beijing where foreigners can go. There are many hospitals that do not accept foreigners, even if the foreigners speak Chinese.
A friend of mine said that after suddenly abdominal pain rushed into a nearby large hospital, he refused the medical examination and finally found the hospital after he had been crushed around three hospitals. There are about three hospitals in Beijing that are said to be able to communicate in Japanese. If Japanese give birth, it seems to be said that one of these three. However, it is difficult to make a reservation because there are doctors who can speak Japanese among many Chinese doctors (when I called, it was about 2 months) There was an impression that the price was high anyway because there was only communication.
Expensive childbirth costs
By the way, the cost of pregnancy and childbirth for foreigners is about 10 times higher than for Chinese. If saving is the top priority, it is much cheaper to give birth in Japan instead of China. At a foreign-affiliated hospital, which is said to be the highest in Beijing, it costs about 1.1 million yen for childbirth alone, and about 1.45 million yen for a caesarean section. This does not include pregnancy screening, so if you include pregnancy screening, it will cost roughly 2 million yen for a caesarean section.
“Ordinary” in Chinese Obstetrics and Gynecology
I was surprised when I examined various hospitals, but the situation in Chinese obstetrics and gynecology is completely different from Japanese obstetrics and gynecology. I looked at three hospitals that spoke Japanese, but those hospitals didn’t feel me anything other than Japanese.
For example, even if there is a doctor who can speak Japanese, if you cannot see the doctor, you may become a doctor who does not speak English or Japanese. There seemed to be many times that the same question was asked many times.
Also, there was no curtain during the internal examination, and parturition and abortion operations were sometimes performed next to each other, so I was really surprised at how privacy was not protected. This is commonplace in Chinese obstetrics and gynecology.
The safest obstetrics and gynecology department is the best
However, in this country, I was not courageous to endure it, so I finally chose an American affiliated hospital. Regardless of my own body, I thought it would be good to have a safe hospital because I can take care of my unfamiliar life.
Although it is a small hospital, doctors and nurses can speak English, so they can communicate with each other, and they are well equipped and protected for privacy. Of course, everything will be in English, and details such as blood tests will be told in English, so I may not understand. In such a case, ask the master to explain it to me later.
Prenatal checkup
Pregnancy checkup time and details
In Japan, it is common to go to obstetrics and gynecology as soon as you know you are pregnant. This is because the possibility of ectopic pregnancy is quickly grasped and the mother’s body is not affected.
However, in China, the first pregnancy checkup seems to be common between the 8th and 10th weeks of pregnancy, and it seems that there are more people who go to the hospital especially from the 10th week. Is about Japan, and in many other countries, it is normal to go to the hospital for the first time around 10 weeks).
Also, the way of thinking about the stable period is different. In Japan, it has been stable since 16 weeks, but in China it has been from 12 weeks. In China, just like in Japan, once a stable period begins, pregnant women are screened once a month.
At the hospital I attended, there was an ultrasound, urine, and blood tests as needed until the 20th week of pregnancy. Ultrasound inspection is performed together with ultrasound specialists, physicians, and nurses. However, in many hospitals where Chinese people attend, it does not seem to have an ultrasonography every time. Ultrasonography is expensive, so it doesn’t seem to do more than necessary.
They will not tell you the sex of the fetus
China was a country where the one-child policy was introduced, and at that time boys were more valuable than girls. For this reason, when doctors tell their parents that the fetus is a girl, not only do they want to abort, but they also put a burden on the mother and kill the fetus. Therefore, doctors are prohibited from teaching parents the sex of the fetus. Of course, it is an important problem for parents, so some parents gave them a bribe to teach them … But this is only done by a doctor, for example, even if the other party is a foreigner Some doctors seem to have no problem if they are foreigners. Our friend is a European man who has a Chinese wife, and when she was pregnant, she gave me a bribe under the table to teach her gender.
However, now that the one-child policy has been abolished, I don’t know exactly what this law is about. The law itself exists, but it is not clear how well it is protected. In our case, we knew there was a possibility that we couldn’t tell us, and we thought it would be good for both boys and girls, so we didn’t expect anything in the first place.
However, at the 13th week, I’m told “Is gender understood next”, can you tell me? If I was excited, unfortunately I couldn’t understand it in the 17th week … However, doctors and nurses specialized in ultrasound told me “maybe …” It seems to be able to know.
What pregnant women are expected to do
Maternal weight management
There is basically no weight management for pregnant women in China. Rather, it seems that pregnant women should gain weight and give birth to large children. In fact, it doesn’t mean that a child will grow just because the pregnant woman’s weight has increased, but an increase of 15kg or 20kg seems rather natural.
It is said that Japan is a country where weight management is too strict, but it seems that the weight gain of pregnant women is 10kg too little. Chinese older women felt that there were many people with large body shapes, but this may be the reason. However, this also seems to be different depending on the doctor, and my doctor calculated the BMI and told me how much kg I could increase.
My acquaintance’s roommate has been preparing four meals a day for daughters whose mothers are pregnant since the 29th week of pregnancy. Speaking of 29 weeks of pregnancy, I feel that it is not the number of weeks that need help from my parents, and if I eat 4 meals a day, I feel that my weight will increase considerably, but apparently this is common in China That’s right. By the way, there seems to be a lot of fried food.
There are many cesarean sections and painless deliveries
There are also many cesarean sections. This may be weight, but because the super-principal who gives birth with the one-child policy is often only one child, parents give money because “ It seems sorry to hurt ” It seems to choose cesarean section and painless delivery.
On the contrary, for me who grew up in Japan, painless delivery is disliked because it uses medicine, cesarean section is disliked because it hurts later, it costs money! There is a compulsive idea that … If you have a cesarean section, the cost will increase by about 350,000 yen! If you can, you want to save money.
After childbirth
There is also a feature in the way Chinese women spend their time after childbirth. There are rules in the way of spending parturition in Japan as well, but in China, old traditions are more important than modern science, so there are strict rules for postpartum women.
First of all, never do housework. I was told to spend all my time in the futon, and no housework was allowed. There are even people who bother to hire a housekeeper for that purpose. You ca n’t touch the water. In other words, face washing, hair washing and tooth brushing are not good. Other than showers and baths!
In addition, it seems that it is believed that it will become rheumatic when it hits the wind, and it seems that it can not be hit by the wind. A woman who leaves the hospital after giving birth, covers her face with cloth …
Finally, don’t use TVs, smartphones or computers. If the eyes get tired, postpartum fertility will worsen. There are other rules depending on the region. I don’t do housework, don’t mess with computers and smartphones, but I understand the meaning, but it seems a little difficult not to touch the water or hit the wind.
In Japan, often people get frustrated because their friends visit you within a month and probably you can avoid this kind of problems in this system. However, I would like to take a shower and clean up to hold the baby.
You can’t compromise for your kids
Convincing childbirth
So different in different countries!! And be surprised. To be honest, there is always a feeling that even if you can enjoy “Different cultures”, you will be able to enjoy the life of a child who has not yet been born.
But I have never regretted taking care of my current hospital and deciding to give birth in China. Pregnancy is still a turning point, so I don’t know what will happen.
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