Pregnancy

Hong Kong Limits Pregnant Chinese Women

Hospitals in Hong Kong have implemented a centralized booking system and established a limit on the number of mainland Chinese mothers allowed to give birth there.

To discourage cross-border births, Chinese mothers will now have to pay twice the hospital fees as their Hong Kong counterparts. These fees must be paid in advance during an antenatal check in order to receive a confirmation certificate, which is required for re-entry into Hong Kong.

Pregnant women over 28 weeks who do not possess a certificate will be denied entry. The Hong Kong health department intends to send medical staff to assist immigration officials in enforcing the new rules at border checkpoints.

Patrick Nip, Hong Kong’s Deputy Secretary for Health, Welfare, and Food, has stated that these measures are meant to prioritize care for local women and prevent non-local pregnant women from seeking last-minute hospital admission through the accident and emergency departments.

However, there have been criticisms from some Chinese individuals who view these measures as discriminatory.

Notably, these new measures will not affect pregnant women of other nationalities.

SOURCE:BBC

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Lisa Arneill

Founder of Growing Your Baby and World Traveled Family. Canadian mom of 2 boys, photo addict, lover of bulldogs, and museumgoer. Always looking for our next vacation spot!

2 Comments

  • The matter with this is not the one-child policy but the fact that Chinese children born on Hong Kong soil become Hong Kong Permanent Residents (‘citizens’ of Hong Kong) and make their parents eligible to immigrate too. Thus, this measure is a response to limit Mainland immigration to Hong Kong.

    But secondly, it is well-known in Hong Kong that Mainland mothers give birth at Hong Kong hospitals and never pay the bills…

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