In answer to Judy's question, when we gave birth at Angel Hospital 3 and a half years ago, I remember that my husband brought like 30,000-35,000 rmb in a bag to the hospital on the day I gave birth. For some reason he couldn't use a debit card (I think because of the foreign name.). Also, we had some kind of British (We're Americans.) insurance at the time and everyone was very gracious about filling out paperwork for every visit. Our Chinese was relatively low and they provided a translator who was often available through the whole experience. At one point during delivery I was surprised to notice that she was holding my hand (The one my husband wasn't holding.).
I will note that while preparing for birth there I did also go to the little international clinic and consulted with an American doctor too. He told me things like, "No, don't do moxibustion to turn the baby (when he was breech early on)" and "No, don't take those pills to stop contractions in month 7 ("That's not really how those pills are supposed to be used.")." When I got a stomach virus early in pregnancy (camphylobacter), I texted him my symptoms and he prescribed an international antibiotic. I went down to my apartment's pharmacy, picked it right up, and recovered. So, the American doctor was helpful in many ways, but my experience at Angel was also extremely positive.
I think that if this is your first pregnancy and/or your Chinese isn't so good, you may face some difficulties, but you'd likely have hardships in HK too. For example, I wasn't able to attend childbirth classes easily at Angel since they were in Chinese.
I'll tell you that I did have some small problems after birth and I think that more clear communication would have been helpful.
For example, at Angel they were eager to make special western food for me after delivery- like steak. They kept asking why I wasn't eating much. I was very weak and just smiled and told them it was good.
It was because sitting up was painful and tiring. Most likely the amount of bleeding I experienced afterwards was atypical... sitting up was making me bleed more I figured out much later. If someone had figured it out and suggested I lay on my side that would have been helpful.
I don't think it was Angel's fault (I've read about it since online.), but the dissolvable stitches I received (while vomiting) didn't dissolve (It happens to some women in the west too.). The result was a very painful infection. (TMI alert) When I went for follow up more than 40 days after delivery, the rotting stitches were removed without any kind of pain relief (though I requested it)
- from the infected area. It was with some difficulty that I hobbled out of Angel that day.
Compared to some birth difficulties I feel these were relatively minor.
My baby received international vaccines afterwards, I got a lot of pampering, the ayi/baomu helpers for the next couple of days at the hospital were quite useful, and I will always be grateful.
I did go to the American doctors again a couple of times for help with my baby; they taught me the importance of burping the baby to promote good breathing, for example.
We had to fly to Chengdu to get the passport to register in Kunming before 60 days ended. I wasn't physically (still bleeding) or emotionally prepared for that trip. Pete's Tex Mex near the embassy let us camp out there for several hours though (even napping) and that was so helpful.
All in all, I recommend Angel Hospital compared to traveling to some other place, like HK or Thailand. You have to decide if the disruption of relocating for a little more English is worth it. I
felt like a princess in a palace at Angel- which is what I needed when I gave birth for the first time. You will get a little less privacy (They took pictures while my baby was being born. Once I fell asleep while nursing exposed. When I woke, there was a bunch of people in the room asking me some kind of question in Chinese. I told them feebly to come back when my husband was in the room to ask him instead.). If you live in Kunming as an expat, you're probably kind of used to such things though.
Angel is very attentive.