- 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 per cent of pregnant women in China receive anaesthesia for pain relief during childbirth, compared to over 70 per cent 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 anaesthesia costs in medical insurance schemes, and some provinces are extending marriage and maternity leave.
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Hospitals to be made to offer women epidurals to boost birth rates
