Chinese cities are increasingly using points systems to assess people’s worthiness for permanent residency status or having their children enrolled in local schools. Now, it seems, the practice is spreading to pregnant women wanting to secure a hospital bed ahead of their delivery.
VCG Photo
Such a system has recently been introduced by a hospital in the southern city of Dongguan. Expectant mothers enjoy priority in reserving beds and making appointments with doctors during their pregnancy as long as they earn enough points through attending antenatal lectures and medical examinations.
According to staff at Dongguan People’s Hospital, mothers-to-be wanting to give birth at the hospital are assigned a “reservation card” that keeps track of the points they have obtained. Those who reach 75 out of a possible 100 points are given preference.
VCG Photo
While getting prenatal screenings for thalassemia and Down syndrome would earn expectant mothers two points, attending lectures concerning, for example, how to ease the pain of delivery or nurse newborns would add eight points.
Huang Suran, director of Dongguan People’s Hospital’s gynecology and obstetrics department, said the move came after the hospital faced excessive demand following the scrapping of China’s one-child policy in 2016.
“In 2016 alone, we delivered an average of 800 babies every month, with the number reaching 1,400 in October and November,” Huang told the Guangzhou Daily, adding that some women who had recently given birth even had to stay in hospital corridors due to a lack of beds.
VCG Photo
She said the mechanism was designed to guarantee fair distribution of medical resources rather than having to turn women away arbitrarily.
Huang further noted that encouraging pregnant women to take plenty of antenatal classes would ensure they have enough knowledge to cope with their pregnancies and babies.
1897km
