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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Health
Kevin Doyle

‘Obstetric winter’: Why are China’s hospitals shutting delivery wards?

An employee and baby at the CareBay maternity care centre in Shanghai, China [File: Aly Song/Reuters]

Medical experts and Chinese media are reporting on the closure of obstetric departments across this country of 1.4 billion people, which has suffered a population decline for two consecutive years – China’s first experience of a diminishing birthrate in several decades.

The closures of delivery wards has been likened to an “obstetric winter” in China, while public concern around the shutdowns has prompted authorities to remove search topics related to the issue from Chinese social media.

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