Shanghai waives all out‑of‑pocket expenses for maternal care - South China Morning Post
The city’s fertility rate last year was just 0.66 – well below the 2.1 needed to ensure a stable population
Mandy Zuoin ShanghaiPublished: 5:04pm, 9 Sep 2026Updated: 5:09pm, 9 Sep 2026Shanghai, grappling with one of China’s highest rates of ageing and lowest rates of fertility, has made maternal care completely free in its latest move to encourage childbirth.
The city government rolled out a pioneering policy on Tuesday that waives all out‑of‑pocket expenses for maternal care, from pregnancy screenings through childbirth to postnatal follow‑ups.
The policy builds on – and goes beyond – a central government commitment to make basic services for hospital delivery free to all patients across the country by the end of this year, part of a push to raise birth rates amid a looming demographic crisis that threatens the country’s long-term economic prosperity.
From October, all female participants in the city’s medical insurance scheme will be entitled to a maternal care allowance of 4,500 yuan (US$671), the municipal healthcare bureau announced, adding that if their bills exceed that amount, maternity insurance would cover the rest. Costs for prenatal check-ups, hospital delivery and postpartum recovery within 42 days after delivery would also be reimbursed in full, the bureau said.
Last year, the central government pledged the nationwide roll-out of a policy of zero out‑of‑pocket costs for giving birth, but it has yet to materialise in all corners of the country.
“Shanghai’s move is a step forward towards zero‑cost childbirth,” said Yuan Xin, a professor of demography at Nankai University in Tianjin. “But like traditional Chinese medicine, these policies are a slow burn – they take time to take effect and will never deliver quick fixes.”
The fertility rate among women of childbearing age with Shanghai household registration was 0.66 last year, meaning each of them only had that number of children on average, according to data from the city government. A value of 2.1 is widely viewed as the minimum to maintain population stability.
