19-3-2024 (HONG KONG) A concerning trend has emerged in China’s healthcare landscape as many hospitals have ceased offering newborn delivery services in 2024, according to a report by state-backed news outlet Daily Economic News. Industry experts warn of an impending “obstetric winter” driven by dwindling demand amidst a sharp decline in new births.
Reports indicate that hospitals in various provinces, including eastern Zhejiang and southern Jiangxi, have recently announced the closure of their obstetric departments. Notices viewed by Reuters reveal decisions to suspend obstetric services, with establishments like the Fifth People’s Hospital of Ganzhou City in Jiangxi and Zhejiang’s Jiangshan Hospital of Traditional Medicine ceasing obstetrics operations.
These closures coincide with Chinese policymakers’ efforts to address the challenge of declining birth rates, amid concerns over the implications of an ageing population on the economy’s growth trajectory. China witnessed a consecutive decline in its population in 2023, attributed to record-low birth rates exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on mortality rates.
Data from China’s National Health Commission underscores the downward trend, with the number of maternity hospitals decreasing from 807 in 2020 to 793 in 2021. The declining birth rate has rendered it economically unviable for many hospitals to sustain obstetrics departments, leading to what Daily Economic News describes as the onset of an “obstetric winter.”
Several factors contribute to the reluctance of women in China to embrace motherhood, including high childcare costs, societal expectations regarding marriage and career sacrifices, and pervasive gender discrimination. Despite governmental incentives such as expanded maternity leave, financial assistance for families, and housing subsidies, the cost and sacrifices associated with child-rearing deter many couples from starting families.
While the Year of the Dragon, which commenced on Feb 10, has seen a slight uptick in births, symbolically believed to be auspicious, demographers caution against expecting a sustained increase. The “dragon baby” phenomenon is anticipated to offer only temporary relief to China’s demographic challenges, with the underlying issues of declining birth rates and societal pressures on women’s roles remaining unresolved.
