10-06-2025
Why China is making hospitals offer women pain relief for childbirth
China has mandated that all tertiary hospitals (over 500 beds) must offer epidural anaesthesia during childbirth by the end of 2024, with plans to extend to secondary hospitals (over 100 beds) by 2027.
The initiative aims to create a more "friendly childbearing environment" amid declining birth rates in China.
Currently, only about 30% of pregnant women in China receive anesthesia for pain relief during childbirth, compared to over 70% in some developed countries.
The World Health Organisation recommends epidurals for healthy pregnant women, and they are widely used in countries like France, the United States, and Canada.
To encourage more women to have children, an increasing number of provinces in China are including childbirth anesthesia costs in medical insurance schemes, and some provinces are extending marriage and maternity leave.
