Beijing hospitals prepare for baby boom

Labor and birth

Babies bloom in propitious years of the Chinese zodiac

For people like Su, the policy may have arrived a little late.

"Had it come out two years ago, I would have given birth to another child without any hesitation," she said.

Age is what bothers most women who come to the Women's Hospital of Zhejiang University's School of Medicine seeking advice, according to Shangguan Xuejun, a doctor there.

The hospital set up a clinic on Nov 27 last year to provide medical advice to women who want to have another child, soon after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to loosen up the family planning policy.

Most of the women who come to the clinic are 35 years old and above, Shangguan said.

"The risks of endocrine disorder, ovulation failure and pregnancy complications, such as diabetes, are higher at this age," he said.

Also, about 80 percent of those seeking advice had undergone a cesarean section, though not all of them actually needed one, Shangguan said.

"The risks of uterine rupture for women who got pregnant again after a C-section, though not very high, is very dangerous to both the mother and the baby," he said. "It's best for women who want to have a second child to go through their first childbirth on their own."

"If fertilized eggs lodge on the scar of the uterus caused by a C-section, one must undergo an abortion and try to get pregnant again," said Zhai Guirong, a retired obstetrician from the Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital.

But others seem to be better prepared for the policy.

Yu Hui, 29, of Beijing, is pregnant with her second child. The mother of a 2-year-old, she is a single child herself and eligible to have a second child under Beijing's policy.

"I insisted on a natural birth for the first child, and the doctors believed that I could do this after an assessment," she said.

"I have been wanting to have a second child. The second-child policy had been discussed for quite some years before it took effect. I knew it would come, and that our generation would benefit from it."

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn