Hi, we are having a baby soon and want to give birth in Kunming. We were going to have the baby at the Fuyoubaojian Hospital (妇幼保健医院), but we had recently a bad experience with the doctor. Right now we are not too sure which hospital to use.

We were happy with Maria Hospital, but most likely except for availability of single rooms these hospitals are the same

First of all, congratulations Fried. I hope all goes well and you get a healthy baby.

My wife just gave birth a couple of weeks ago in Kunhua hospital (First People's Hospital of Yunnan Province) in Jinbi Lu, because everybody told her this was the best hospital for giving birth. They are supposed to have the best surgeons and machinery, so if you plan to do a caesarian section, or in case of any complications, that would probably be your best choice.

If you don't know anybody there, the service is terrible though. This is basically a baby-factory, where everybody is just a number. The doctors are very busy and will not give you any information except for what medicine you should take or what scan/test you should do. When you ask them additional questions they just ignore it and start talking to the next patient. This hospital is extremely popular so their view is probably: "if you don't like it you can go somewhere else".

What we did was we went to a smaller, lesser known hospital where we knew someone, so at least we would get some good service and advice in the first months, and then later on we went back to Kunhua hospital. What we hadn't anticipated is that my wife had to do every single test all over again there, otherwise they just wouldn't allow her to give birth there. After all they need to make money, right?

We luckily found out (only shortly before the birth) we did know someone who knew someone in the hospital, and we were suddenly not a number anymore. No question was too much, and we even got assigned the best surgeon they have for the caesarean.

I suppose this is very similar to other hospitals in Kunming, except perhaps for some of the (extremely expensive) private hospitals, like Maria Hospital. There, service is much better from what I hear. But the much higher prices there are probably only because of the VIP-treatment and advertising costs, not from better quality medical treatment and technology.
When my wife was in Kunhua hospital, she shared the room with another girl who was in Maria Hospital first. When they encountered some serious complications there, they immediately transferred her to Kunhua Hospital because it was too risky for them.

No matter what hospital you go to, some guanxi would certainly help, so you may want to check if you or your wife know anybody who is or knows a nurse or doctor in a good hospital.

You can always PM me if you have additional questions.