An increasing number of Chinese mothers-to-be now choose to give birth in hospitals which contributed to the drop in China’s maternal death rate, according to a report released by the National Health Commission (NHC).
China’s rate of hospital delivery had so far remained over 99 per cent in recent times, and the percentage in rural areas had seen a rise from 51.7 per cent in 1996 to 99.8 per cent in 2018.
According to NHC’s report on Wednesday, as maternal healthcare continues to improve, the country’s maternal death rate by 2018, dropped to 18.3 out of every 100,000, down 79.4 per cent from 1990.
However, China had also seen a reduced gap in the maternal death rate between urban and rural areas.
By 2018, the maternal death rate in urban and rural areas dropped by 81.2 per cent and 67.2 per cent, respectively. from 1990, with the ratio dropping to 1:1.3.
The country had given priority to enhancing healthcare for women and children in poverty-stricken regions through a three-year action plan for poverty alleviation through healthcare.
According to the report, major healthcare projects such as diseases screening for newborns now cover all poverty-stricken areas in China.
The report said the country also achieved the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2014, ahead of time, to cut down the maternal death rate by 75 per cent from that in 1990.
