Medical experts and Chinese media have reported that maternity departments are closed across the country of 1.4 billion people. The country has suffered two consecutive years of population decline, and China is experiencing its first decline in birth rates in decades.
The closure of delivery wards has been likened to China's “maternity winter,” while public concerns about the closures have prompted authorities to remove search topics related to the issue from Chinese social media.
But even as public concerns subsided, that didn't stop Chinese hospitals from closing their delivery wards.
With China's economy in decline and young people shunning traditional marriage and childbearing, prospects for a resurgence in population growth look bleak.
Here's what we know about China's maternity closures.
Fewer Chinese women are having children
China's National Bureau of Statistics announced in February that China's population in 2023 will decline for the second consecutive year, dropping by 2.08 million people to 1.409 billion.
Last year's decline was far higher than the 850,000 decline recorded in 2022, marking the first time China's population has declined since 1961, the year of the Great Famine under Mao Zedong. .
Statistics for 2023 also show that the number of new births decreased by 5.7% to 9.02 million people, and the birth rate also fell from 6.77 per 1,000 people in 2022 to a record low of 6.39 per 1,000 people. .
China's birth rate has continued to decline since a strict one-child policy was imposed in 1980 due to concerns about a rapidly growing population. Similarly, with the population rapidly declining, the Chinese government reversed course in 2015, allowing couples to have two children, and in 2021, three children.
But allowing couples to have more children does not increase their choice to do so.
Several explanations have been given for why Chinese people are reluctant to have more children. The effectiveness of decades of government messaging about the benefits of limiting family size to one child. The economic costs (childcare, education, medical care) of having children in China and the impact of starting a family on young people's careers.
How many hospitals have closed their obstetric departments?
China does not release official statistics on reported closures.
Reuters reported this week that “a number of hospitals in China” had stopped providing obstetric services this year.
Data from China's National Health Commission shows that this phenomenon did not suddenly occur. According to Reuters, the number of maternity hospitals decreased from 807 to 793 from 2020 to 2021.
Last week, China's Daily Economic News media reported that “the “maternity winter'' seems to be quietly arriving.'' But alarm bells had long been ringing among Chinese medical experts and media reports.
In September, Shanghai-based state-run digital media organization The Paper published a lengthy report on the closure of maternity units in cities including Ningbo and Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, Jiangsu province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Guangzhou city in Guangdong province. announced. .
Many hospitals in Guangdong have also adjusted their obstetrics and gynecology services, including shortening working hours, including uncompensated nights, and reducing the care they can provide at other times, the paper said.
Criticism of closing
Deng Yong, a professor at Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Wang Chongyu, a fellow professor at the same university, warned of the “rapid abolition” of pediatrics and gynecology in China in an op-ed published in February by China Business News.
“The reasons behind this phenomenon and the social and medical problems that have come to light need to be urgently discussed and resolved in all sectors,” they wrote in a lengthy analysis of the unfolding situation. wrote in an argument to keep the maternity unit open.
“According to media reports, maternity departments across the country are experiencing a 'cold winter' and the number of newborns continues to decline,” they said.
“The closure of pediatric and maternal and child hospitals appears to be a common trend, but rapid closure impacts the provision of basic medical care to the population, increases the strain on hospital resources, and increases the “This will cause social problems,” they continued.
“If there are not enough pediatric and mother-child hospitals to provide medical services, pregnant women and infants will be unable to receive specialized medical care, with dire consequences.”
Changing expectations of Chinese women
Stuart Gietel-Basten, a social science professor and population policy expert at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said China's demographic changes are reflected in the health sector, with the population aging as maternity services decline. He pointed out that the number of services required will increase. .
Gitel Basten told Al Jazeera that the reason China's birth rate is so low has to do with problems that are now common to women all over the world.
“What we need to do is recognize the fundamental challenges that young people in China and many other parts of the world face as they start out in life, in terms of housing costs, decent employment, and stable employment. That's the thing,” he said.
According to Gietel Basten, young women in China face countless risks to their careers and economic well-being by starting a family, not to mention that women are expected to take care of their children, parents, and parents. As a result, they are exposed to an “unequal caregiving burden'' within their families. in law.
“The cost to women in terms of economic risk is also very high, and the risk to living the kind of life that they want and expect is also very high,” he said.
Chinese people's thoughts on marriage and children
The number of people getting married in China has decreased from about 13.5 million couples in 2013 to about 6.8 million couples in 2022.
Data shows that Chinese people are also marrying later in life, divorce rates are rising and more people are choosing to remain single.
Agnes Chen, 34, a business owner in Shanghai, told Al Jazeera that she was not surprised that maternity units across China were shrinking.
“This is not a good time to have children. The economic situation is not good and many young people are struggling and have other priorities,” she said. “Even couples I know who want children are instead waiting for better times.”
Lisa Ming, 28, a nurse anesthetist in Shenzhen, said she and her husband often talked about starting a family after getting married last year.
“But we don't have much money right now, so we decided to wait and see what happens and what we want to do in the future,” she told Al Jazeera.
“We have to work more to feed the baby, but we don't want any more stress or pressure right now. Life is not just about starting a family, it's also about quality of life.” she said.
“So, for now, we're just keeping cats.”
Additional reporting by Frederik Kelter.
