In a bid to boost births, Shanghai waives out-of-pocket expenses for maternal care
The city’s fertility rate last year was just 0.66 – well below the 2.1 needed to ensure a stable population
Shanghai, grappling with one of China’s highest rates of ageing and lowest rates of fertility, has made maternal care completely free in its latest move to encourage childbirth.
The city government rolled out a pioneering policy on Tuesday that waives all out‑of‑pocket expenses for maternal care, from pregnancy screenings through childbirth to postnatal follow‑ups.
The policy builds on – and goes beyond – a central government commitment to make basic services for hospital delivery free to all patients across the country by the end of this year, part of a push to raise birth rates amid a looming demographic crisis that threatens the country’s long-term economic prosperity.
From October, all female participants in the city’s medical insurance scheme will be entitled to a maternal care allowance of 4,500 yuan (US$671), the municipal healthcare bureau announced, adding that if their bills exceed that amount, maternity insurance would cover the rest. Costs for prenatal check-ups, hospital delivery and postpartum recovery within 42 days after delivery would also be reimbursed in full, the bureau said.