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jiangxi top 100 emma maternity hospital issued a closure notice. is the "obstetric winter" getting colder?

written by wen hui

editor: tian dongliang

less than three months after guangzhou emma maternity hospital announced its closure in june, jiangxi top 100 emma maternity hospital also issued a closure announcement recently, announcing that all medical services would be suspended from august 30, 2024. the announcement gave a plan for patient diversion and employee placement, or a permanent closure.

the announcement listed the reasons for the hospital's closure: "including but not limited to decreased birth volume, broken capital chain, market competition pressure, business development needs and market adjustments.”

jiangxi baijia emma maternity hospital closure announcement

due to the sudden closure of the hospital, some consumers stated on the "black cat consumer service platform" that they purchased medical beauty projects worth more than 20,000 yuan and obstetrics and gynecology projects worth more than 10,000 yuan but were unable to receive treatment, and currently no one is contacting them for a refund.

the "small spring" of childbirth cannot warm up the "cold winter" of obstetrics

according to the hospital's official website, jiangxi top 100 emma maternity hospital is located in nanchang city. it was established in 2013 and is a high-quality second-level maternity hospital with high-quality experiential medical services, five-star hotel services, painless delivery, medical-grade confinement clubs, and ai smart child care. the hospital was also selected as one of the first national labor analgesia pilot hospitals in 2019.

"tianyancha" data shows that jiangxi 100shop emma obstetrics and gynecology hospital is affiliated to hangzhou baihui hospital management co., ltd., which also owns shanghai 100shop obstetrics and gynecology hospital, hangzhou emma obstetrics and gynecology hospital, guangzhou elizabeth obstetrics and gynecology hospital and many other obstetrics and gynecology hospitals.

in june this year, guangzhou emma maternity hospital, a subsidiary of the same company, also closed down. due to disputes, the shares of several hospitals under the company have been frozen.

since 2022, there has been one wave of "obstetric closures" after another, and declining fertility rates and fewer births are considered to be the primary reasons.data released by the national bureau of statistics showed that in 2023, my country's natural population growth rate dropped to -1.48‰, marking two consecutive years of negative growth.the number of births in the whole year was 9.02 million, a decrease of 540,000 from the previous year. the birth rate fell for the seventh consecutive year to 6.39‰, a new low. data from jiangxi province, where jiangxi top 100 emma obstetrics and gynecology hospital is located, showed that the number of births in the province in 2023 was 295,000, more than half of the 635,000 in 2017.

the expected "small spring" in the birth rate in 2024 does not seem to have stopped the cold wind blowing towards obstetrics. since the beginning of this year, many hospitals have announced the closure of obstetric services, including both private institutions and public tertiary hospitals. in august, another public tertiary hospital, beijing hospital of integrated traditional chinese and western medicine, issued an announcement to stop obstetrics file creation services.

beijing hospital of integrated traditional chinese and western medicine announces suspension of obstetrics record-keeping service

"ice and fire"? there are also new constructions

on the one hand, there is a wave of closures, and on the other hand, new hospitals are emerging.

according to incomplete statistics from medical think tanks, in the past three months, several grade a maternal and child specialty hospitals have been built or put into use.

on september 1, the dingjiazhuang branch of nanjing maternal and child health hospital was put into use with 1,200 beds.

on august 30, suzhou maternal and child health hospital (suzhou municipal hospital maternal and child health hospital) opened with 800 planned beds.

on june 26, hainan provincial maternity and child health hospital (changbin road campus)/hainan provincial obstetrics and gynecology hospital was put into use with a planned capacity of 500 beds.

on june 19, the binhai campus of tianjin central obstetrics and gynecology hospital was completed and will soon be put into trial operation, with a planned capacity of 350 beds.

there are also many projects under construction: nansha branch of guangzhou women and children's medical center, with 780 beds; yuhua branch of jiangsu maternal and child health hospital, with 1,332 beds; new branch of henan maternal and child health hospital (henan hospital of obstetrics and gynecology affiliated to fudan university), with 1,000 beds; tongle branch of shenzhen nanshan district maternal and child health hospital, with 600 beds; new branch of yunnan maternal and child health hospital, with 1,100 beds; new branch of changsha maternal and child health hospital, with 1,300 beds...

industry insiders said that there are mainly two types of obstetrics that are still "hot" today: one is the hospital that does not use the number of births as the main indicator and mainly accepts high-risk pregnant women; the other is the local leading maternal and child health care hospital.

taking guangzhou as an example, the number of births at the women and children's medical center affiliated to guangzhou medical university (hereinafter referred to as guangzhou women and children's) has seen a sustained growth trend in the past three years after a slow decline; the number of births at the third affiliated hospital of guangzhou medical university, where the guangzhou severe maternal and child health care center is located, has increased significantly this year due to the impact of the "little spring" compared with the same period, and the beds are fully booked.

duan tao, a well-known obstetrics and gynecology expert, once said that the "obstetric winter" has the greatest impact on the obstetrics departments of general hospitals and secondary specialized hospitals, because most people still prefer top obstetrics and gynecology specialized hospitals.

from living by "quantity" to winning by "quality"

at present, it is an indisputable fact that the number of mothers is on a downward trend. even for leading hospitals, it is quite challenging to continuously increase the service volume. the survival and development of obstetrics ultimately depends on "quality".

with the aging of the population and the relaxation of fertility policies, the demographic characteristics of pregnant women and the spectrum of obstetric diseases in china are undergoing changes, and the number of older pregnant women and those at risk of comorbidities and complications is increasing. improving medical standards and ensuring the safety of pregnant women and newborns is the basis. on top of this, providing more personalized and high-quality services for pregnant women with special needs is an important direction for obstetric transformation.

on march 27, the national health commission issued the "notice of the general office of the national health commission on strengthening the management of midwifery services", which emphasized that public medical institutions should assume the responsibility of obstetric services andit is proposed that midwifery institutions should strengthen the construction of fertility-friendly hospitals, provide humane delivery services centered on mothers, and encourage midwifery institutions with conditions to increase the number of single and double rooms in obstetric wards.

in june this year, the national healthcare security administration issued the "guidelines for the establishment of obstetric medical service pricing projects (trial)", which established separate projects such as "labor analgesia", "doula delivery" and "family companionship", supporting medical institutions to provide humane delivery services centered on mothers and improve the comfort of mothers during delivery.

the suzhou maternal and child health hospital, which was recently put into use, has planned and built the largest digital family delivery room (ldrp) group in the country. there are 54 family delivery rooms in total, 20 of which are full suites. they integrate functions such as pre-delivery preparation, delivery, and postpartum recovery, providing full-course diagnosis, treatment and nursing services for pregnant women and newborns.

the newly completed nanjing maternal and child health hospital dingjiazhuang branch has obtained the well gold level healthy building system certification, and has made great efforts in temperature, humidity, lighting, and even the comfort of seats. it also uses information technology to upgrade the new medical experience and launch the country's first "in-hospital precise referral" service, building a referral network between health care departments and clinical departments and between various clinical professional departments, and "one-stop" in-hospital referrals to meet the needs of multi-department medical treatment.

yan feng, the head nurse of the delivery room at the zhujiang new town branch of the guangzhou women and children's center, said that midwives can provide a lot of services. in addition to the common doula delivery, their hospital also provides perineal massage technology and hydrotherapy services during delivery. data shows that starting from the 35th week of pregnancy, perineal massage for pregnant mothers with suitable physical conditions can "reduce 16% of episiotomies, 9% of perineal sutures, and reduce perineal pain 3 months after delivery."

more and more hospitals are beginning to provide one-stop services from prenatal care to postpartum recovery, exploring the extension of obstetrics to the entire life cycle of women and children. early childhood education clinics, childcare centers and other inclusive child care and nursing services have also blossomed across the country.

when public maternal and child hospitals begin to "compete" in terms of service, what should private obstetrics and gynecology hospitals, whose main competitive advantage is improving the comfort of mothers' visits, do?

guo jun, a senior professional dean of the hospital's discipline construction, development and operation management, once said in an interview with the medical community that in the consumer medical field, private obstetric hospitals still have many years of reputation accumulation and have formed a certain brand advantage. the market-oriented orientation can also make products and services smoothly connected. compared with the inherent "specialty" advantage of public hospitals, strengthening "subsidiary departments" is the relative advantage of private obstetrics in the competition. but how long this advantage can last is unknown. "to retain the existing high-spending population and attract new customers, the core of private obstetrics and gynecology hospitals is still 'high-end', but the ultimate way out is to promote medical quality and invest part of the resources originally used in marketing and promotion into discipline construction and talent echelon training."

amid the closures, private obstetrics and gynecology hospitals are not without good news. in march this year, suzhou xihua obstetrics and gynecology hospital, with a planned capacity of 600 medical beds and an investment of 1.6 billion yuan, bucked the trend and officially began operations.