Photo: News Front
China is launching a major maternity care reform: by the end of 2025, all tertiary hospitals in the country will be required to provide epidural anaesthesia during childbirth. This initiative is part of a strategic fight against the rapid decline in the birth rate, which has become the No. 1 challenge for the world’s second largest economy, Reuters reports .
By 2027, secondary hospitals (100 beds or more) should also introduce this standard, according to a statement by the National Health Commission of China (NHC).
“We strive to create a comfortable and safe environment for the birth of a child,” the statement said. The aim is to “increase the sense of happiness in society”.
In 2024, China experienced a population decline for the third time in a row, and in 2022 – for the first time in six decades. Experts warn that this trend will only deepen. Amid such alarming demographic data, the government is trying to reduce barriers for women, including pain during childbirth.
At present, only 30% of Chinese women receive anaesthesia at childbirth, while in France this figure is 82%, and in the US and Canada it is over 67%.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) supports the use of epidural anaesthesia for healthy pregnant women who need pain relief.
At the same time, China’s regional governments are beginning to include the cost of anaesthesia in health insurance programmes to encourage more women to become mothers.
