Many of Shanghai's mothers-to-be are anticipating an auspicious
start in life for the children they bear in this Golden Year of the
Pig.
?
But the birth itself probably won't be as easy as those
occurring in years considered less lucky.
Shanghai hospitals will be overtaxed as 137,000 babies are
expected to be born in this lunar cycle - which occurs only once
every 60 years. The birth figure is 6,000 more than last year - the
Year of the Dog - which was also believed to be an auspicious
year.
As a result of this mini baby boom, city-level hospitals will be
filled to capacity, and many mothers will have to give birth at
less-desirable district level facilities. Mothers can also expect
to have their hospital stays cut short by a few days to make way
for those with new labor pains.
"Our design capacity allows us to provide delivery services for
450 mothers a month, but our work load is about 500 at present,"
said Duan Tao, vice president of Shanghai No. 1 Maternity and Child
Health Hospital on Changle Road, one of the city's top three
maternity facilities.
Beds are being borrowed and set up wherever there's space, he
said.
"Normally, a woman is hospitalized for four to five days if she
has a natural birth and a week for a cesarean birth," Duan said.
"In order to make better use of our beds, we require our patients
to leave hospital early. We've even set up a special team to
provide stitch-removal services at new mothers' homes."
Duan admitted that the special procedures could present a slight
risk of infection or other complications, but he said medical staff
make discharge decisions only after reviewing each patient's
condition.
The International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital in
Xujiahui, another leading facility, is strictly controlling the
number of new patients and shortening their stay by one day.
"Many women are willing to travel to city-level maternity
hospitals. The restrictions will encourage them go to
district-level facilities near where they live, which are competent
for ordinary deliveries," said hospital Vice President Cheng
Weiwei.
"We even turned a four-bed ward into a six-bed ward to handle
more patients."
Some new mothers are turning to postnatal care facilities to
make up for the shortened hospital stays.
"We provide wound care, psychological services, figure shaping
for new mothers and care for the newborns, and we teach the
families and ayis child-feeding and nursing skills," said Wang
Yiliang, director of Xiyue Postnatal Hospital, a Taiwan-based
facility in the city.
(Shanghai Daily March 19, 2007)