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LCQ13: Babies born in Hong Kong to Mainland women
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     Following is a question by the Hon Abraham Shek and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (November 11):

Question:

     Regarding mainland pregnant women giving birth in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the respective numbers of babies born to Mainland women in public hospitals and private hospitals in Hong Kong each year since the handing down of judgment by the Court of Final Appeal on Chong Fung-yuen's case in 2001, and how these numbers compare with the corresponding numbers of babies born to local women during the same period;

(b) whether it had, in the past two years, assessed the intention of children born locally to non-Hong Kong residents to receive education in Hong Kong; if it had, of the details; if not, whether it will conduct the relevant assessment expeditiously; and

(c) of the latest position of the implementation of the obstetric service arrangements for Non-eligible Persons?

Reply:

President,

(a) Statistics on the number of babies born in Hong Kong to Mainland women for the years from 2002 to 2008, the shares of place of delivery in public or private hospitals and their proportion in the total number of live births in Hong Kong are given in the Annex.

(b) The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) completed two rounds of the Survey on Babies Born in Hong Kong to Mainland women (Survey) in early 2007 and early 2009 respectively.  The objective of the Survey is to enquire the intentions of the parents of these babies on whether they would bring their babies born in Hong Kong back to the Mainland and, for those babies who have taken back to the Mainland, the intention of their parents on whether these babies would be brought back to Hong Kong later.

     According to the results of the Survey in early 2009, the intentions of staying in Hong Kong varied between parents of the babies whose fathers are Hong Kong Permanent Residents and those who are not.  About 52% of the parents of the babies whose fathers are Hong Kong Permanent Residents (Type I babies) indicated that their babies would stay in Hong Kong for living.  Of the remaining 48% Type I babies, about 86% of the parents indicated that they would bring their babies back to the Mainland immediately but definitely or probably would bring their children back to Hong Kong before the age of 21.  As for babies whose fathers are not Hong Kong Permanent Residents (Type II babies), only 2% of the parents indicated that their babies would stay in Hong Kong for living.  For the other 98% Type II babies, only about 28% of the parents indicated that they would bring their babies back to the Mainland immediately but definitely or probably would bring their children back to Hong Kong before the age of 21.

     C&SD is now conducting the third round of the Survey.  The results will be used as a reference for updating the population projections.

(c) It is our policy to ensure that Hong Kong residents are given proper and adequate obstetric services.  In recent years, there was rapid increase in the demand for obstetric services in Hong Kong by non-Hong Kong resident women (including Mainland women), causing tremendous pressure on the capacity of obstetric service in public hospitals and affecting such services to Hong Kong resident women.  It was also noted that there was a large number of non-Hong Kong resident women seeking emergency admission to public hospitals through the Accident and Emergency Departments (A&EDs) for delivery.  To tackle the problem, the Hospital Authority (HA) has implemented since February 1, 2007 revised arrangements for obstetric service for Non-Eligible Persons (NEPs) to ensure that Hong Kong resident women are given priority for proper obstetric service.  The new arrangements also seek to limit the number of NEPs coming to Hong Kong to give births to a level that can be supported by our public healthcare system, and to deter their dangerous behaviour of seeking emergency hospital admissions through A&EDs shortly before labour.

     Under the new arrangements, NEPs who wish to seek obstetric service in public hospitals have to make prior booking and pay for a package charge of $39,000.  For cases of delivery by emergency admission through the A&EDs, the charge would be $48,000.  This charging policy applies to all NEPs regardless of whether their husbands are Hong Kong residents.  HA would reserve sufficient places for EPs to ensure that they have priority over NEPs in the booking of obstetric services, and HA would only accept booking from NEP when spare service capacity is available.  There were notable effects of the new arrangements.  By comparing the first eight months of 2009 with the same period in 2006, the number of Hong Kong resident women giving birth in public hospitals has increased by 8.7% while the number of non-Hong Kong resident women giving birth in public hospitals has decreased by 12.8%.  Separately, the number of deliveries by non-Hong Kong resident women in public hospitals through the A&EDs has decreased significantly by 92.2%.

Ends/Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Issued at HKT 14:35

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