Family and children / Chapter 27
The first half of this section measures death risk for the pregnant woman and the fetus. The second half measures money and the time spent running errands. The two accounts are not converted into each other. The content only covers “what to do when.” Things without hard evidence, or with only a small effect — prenatal nutrition, fetal education, and the like — are not written here. Maternity allowances, maternity leave, and the money side of raising a child are in Section 18; how to care for the child after birth is in Section 20; emergencies are in Section 13.
Figures from the World Health Organization: in 2023, about 260000 women worldwide died from pregnancy and childbirth. About 75% of those deaths came from five causes: postpartum hemorrhage, infection, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (blood pressure that rises after pregnancy, including preeclampsia and eclampsia), complications during delivery, and unsafe abortion. The WHO also says that “most maternal deaths are preventable, because the health-care solutions to prevent or manage complications are well known.” The items in this section with the largest effect are exactly those that catch these problems early.
Items in this section are grouped by theme below; numbers in parentheses are the item numbers.
What you can do yourself before and during pregnancy: start folic acid when you are preparing to conceive (Item 1); no cigarette and no drink of alcohol (Item 4); you do not need to rehome the cat (Item 17); inactivated influenza vaccine (Item 18); from 28 weeks onward, lie on your side when you fall asleep (Item 19).
Prenatal care and screening: register for the Maternal and Child Health Handbook (Item 2); HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B (Item 3); low-dose aspirin (Item 5); gestational diabetes screening (Item 6).
Go to the hospital at once when something is wrong: the “go to the hospital immediately” list (Item 7); if your water breaks, lie flat where you are (Item 8).
During childbirth: if you want labor analgesia, say so directly (Item 9); do not ask for a cesarean without a medical indication (Item 10).
After birth: the 42-day postpartum checkup (Item 16); breastfeeding is not the same as contraception (Item 20).
Money and documents: confirm maternity insurance (Item 11); the Medical Certificate of Birth (Item 12); heel-prick screening and hearing screening (Item 13); enroll the child in resident yibao (医保 — basic medical insurance) (Item 14); file the birth registration (Item 15).
Taking one folic acid pill a day around the time of conception cuts the chance of a neural tube defect in the child by about seven tenths. Neural tube defects are birth defects such as anencephaly and spina bifida. …
You are entitled to at least five free prenatal checkups during pregnancy, plus home visits after delivery and a 42-day postpartum checkup, all paid for by the state. …
At the first prenatal visit, get the three tests for HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B done. The initial HIV screen does not come out of your pocket. A positive result is not a dead end. …
Smoking in pregnancy raises the chance the baby is born early, is born too small, or has a cleft lip or palate, and doubles the risk of abnormal bleeding in pregnancy and at delivery. …
Preeclampsia is a type of high blood pressure that occurs during pregnancy. …
Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar that appears only after pregnancy begins. After 24 weeks, half a morning of drinking sugar water and several blood draws can find it. …
If any of the following appears, go to the hospital the same day — do not wait overnight at home; this still counts within the first year after birth. …
When your water breaks, do not pack slowly and then leave. The right move is to lie down where you are, raise your hips, and call 120. Walking while standing makes the fluid drain faster, and the cord may come out with it. …
Labor analgesia is a shot of anesthetic in the lower back that takes the edge off labor pain. It works better than other pain relief and does not make a cesarean more likely. …
The World Health Organization’s position is that once a place’s cesarean rate passes 10%, there is no evidence that deaths of mothers and newborns keep falling. When a cesarean is needed, it must be done. …
When the employer pays maternity insurance, medical costs of childbirth and the allowance during maternity leave both come from that fund. If the spouse has no job, the medical-cost part can still be claimed. …
This certificate is the prerequisite for hukou (户口 — household registration), insurance enrollment, and school. If birth was in a hospital, collect it from the facility that attended the birth. …
One heel-prick blood draw and one hearing test can find hypothyroidism, phenylketonuria, and hearing loss while the child still looks completely normal. By the time symptoms show, damage to intellect can no longer be undone.
As soon as you receive the birth certificate, you can enroll your baby in yibao online — no need to wait for household registration. Once enrolled, most hospitalization costs can be reimbursed right at discharge. …
The law gives one month, not “when you have time.” Hukou registration blocks what comes after: vaccines, kindergarten, school, and an ID card. The longer you wait, the more materials you have to make up.
This checkup costs nothing. On local published service lists it includes a complete blood count, a vaginal discharge exam, and one postpartum depression screen. …
Toxoplasma is a parasite. A first infection in pregnancy can cause miscarriage, and the child’s eyes and brain can be damaged. Living with a cat does not make infection more likely, so the cat does not have to go. …
Pregnant people who get flu are more likely to be hospitalized than people who are not pregnant. One flu shot in pregnancy cuts your own flu hospitalizations by about four tenths. …
Falling asleep on your back after 28 weeks raises the risk the baby dies in the womb to about 2.6 times that of side sleeping. Left and right are the same; pick the side that is comfortable. …
You can conceive again as early as 3 weeks after birth, even while breastfeeding and before periods return. …
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