So the world cup starts next week, where are all the Rugby fans planning to watch the games and see South Africa own the rest of the world?

Laotou, thanks for the very detailed info. So to date we have been visiting a lot of hospitals and questioning them, and looking also on the Chinese forums online to see other's opinions and feedback.

Today we visited the woman and children's hospital which was ok. The head of the department actually introduced herself to us and was very friendly, but they seem to be a bit overworked, and space could be an issue, i.e. having to wait in the corridor while waiting to go into labour.

We also looked at the No. 1 People's hospital as well, which so far is looking to be our best option so far. They are not as busy, and hence not overworked. There are rooms with 3 patients to a room or single rooms available. Their patients never have to sleep in corridors. We have an appointment with the head of the obstetrics department on Monday. So we will see and judge from there. According to online reports, this seems to be one of the better hospitals and this doctor has good reviews from the locals in Kunming.

Yeah I am kinda averse to the international hospitals as I have heard of avoidable deaths in 2 of them that was a result of lack of facilities to deal with complications, or doctor error.

I never expected it to be so difficult here in Kunming choosing a hospital. It was an absolute pleasure with our first child when we were in Ningbo, none of the corruption and bullshit that KM seems to have.

Not as yet, it is on our list of hospitals to check out.

Before anyone tells me to look at the other threads I am aware of other threads in the forum, but they are old and outdated, hence my reason for asking again.

I would like to hear from foreigners or mixed race couples living in Kunming, which hospitals they would recommend giving birth in. I would prefer advice from people with first hand experience. Private or public hospitals could be recommended.

The reason I ask is because we have been to visit a few hospitals, namely Yanan Hospital and People's hospital of Panlong Disctrict (both of which are Chinese public hospitals). Here is my gripe with them, they want us to perform a battery of blood tests most of which are unnecessary, e.g. blood type, when my wife's blood type is known, vitamin A and E test which has no medical relevance to pregnancy and birth, Hepatitis A, B, C when my wife's status is already known from a test done a few months ago to get the birth permit; among many other unnecessary tests. I would like to add that I am medically trained so I am well educated in pregnancy and birth protocols according to international standards. I get the feeling from the two Chinese hospitals that they are just meat factories and lack decent medical training and are trying to squeeze as much money out of their patients as possible.

As a result we went to look at Richland international hospital. We were impressed, but felt the prices were exorbitant compared to public hospital prices, but then you are paying for privacy. However we have heard of a situation that happened in Richland hospital which has caused us much concern medically. I won't go into to details, but it has not given us any sense of medical trust in this institution.

So thus as we continue to search I would like to hear other GK users experiences and recommendations of hospitals to give birth in. A doctor who speaks English or has experience dealing with foreigners would also be a bonus, but not necessary as my wife is Chinese, so the language barrier is not an issue.

Thanks in advance for any feedback provided.

oh good then my prostate is fine.