There’s a baby boom going on in China right now, and Beijing hospitals are now expecting to see twice as many patients with high-risk pregnancies, The Straits Times reports.
In March, Beijing witnessed the highest number of pregnancies since May of 2014. According to a report by the 21st Century Business Herald, there will be 400,000 births in the capital this year, up from 360,000 in 2015.
It is believed that China’s new two-child policy has had a direct impact on the recent surge in pregnancies in the capital. However, the Year of the Monkey (which began in February) is widely regarded as a particularly lucky year for having a child.
The two-child policy went into effect on January 1, at which point an estimated 90 million women in China became eligible to have two children. However, more than half of these women are aged between 40 and 49, the National Health and Family Planning Commission reports. Older women, especially women over 40, are more susceptible to high-risk pregnancies.
Health authorities in Beijing have mandated that women with health issues and mother’s that have been categorized as “high-risk” must give birth at Grade-A hospitals.
As a result many major hospitals in Beijing have reserved twice as many beds as usual for mothers with high-risk pregnancies. It is expected that these women will account for 80 percent of all patients admitted to hospitals this year, up from 40 percent in 2015.
[Image via China Foto Press]
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