China to make all hospitals offer epidurals to incentivize childbirth

Tertiary hospitals – those with more than 500 beds – must provide epidural anesthesia services by 2025 while secondary hospitals – those with more than 100 beds – must provide the services by 2027, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said in a statement last week.

The authorities are struggling to boost birth rates in the world’s second-largest economy after China’s population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024, with experts warning that the downturn will worsen in the coming years.

Around 30% of pregnant women in China receive anesthesia to relieve pain during childbirth, compared with more than 70% in some developed countries, the official China Daily said.

The World Health Organization recommends epidurals for healthy pregnant women requesting pain relief, and they are widely utilized in many countries around the world, including France, where around 82% of pregnant women opt to have one, and in the United States and Canada, where more than 67% do.

The move will "improve the comfort level and security of medical services" and "further enhance people’s sense of happiness and promote a friendly childbearing environment," the NHC said.

A growing number of provinces across China are also beginning to include childbirth anesthesia costs as part of their medical insurance schemes to encourage more women to have children.

High childcare costs as well as job uncertainty and a slowing economy have discouraged many young Chinese from getting married and starting a family.

In June, health authorities in China's south-western Sichuan province proposed to extend marriage leave to up to 25 days and maternity leave up to 150 days, to help create a "fertility-friendly society."