Pregnant in China: comparing costs

Elle Lay again.

With my head about to explode from doing price and quality of care comparisons on our prenatal and birthing options in Shanghai (western style facilities only)--a friend who had recently given birth in Shanghai was right on time sending me a link to expatmedicare.com which has enough information and answers of FAQ's to really make my head explode.

Since it's expatmedicare's information, and not mine to share, head over to their site and scroll to the bottom to find out more about giving birth in Shanghai. They have articles comparing costs and services of Shanghai birthing facilities, both western and local, as well as the most common prenatal services and the costs involved with those. It's quite informative.

The articles are a year old, so prices have probably increased, but it provides a glimpse at what a family may be looking at in terms of using a Shanghai hospital to have their baby.

www.expatmedicare.com

As of August 2013, there is a new birthing option in Shanghai, which is not listed on expatmedicare's website. The facility is Canadian run, and specializes in women's and maternal healthcare. The hospital is called Redleaf. My husband and I will tour it this weekend to see if it's a better fit for us than our current pick of Parkway Health. During a phone call to Redleaf, I have been quoted 27,000 rmb for a prenatal package covering weeks 20-40 and 91,000 rmb for an uncomplicated natural birth, with epidural being an additional fee. It is quite expensive, however, one of Parkway's most popular Obstetricians, Dr. Michelle Lu-Ferguson has left Parkway to join the Redleaf team, and I would like to see her.

Here is a peek at Redleaf's website: http://www.redleafhospital.com/en_main.html