China bolsters family support network with new prenatal, parenting centers

HOHHOT -- China now boasts 105 national-level centers dedicated to providing guidance on prenatal and postnatal care, as well as parenting, according to He Xiang, deputy secretary-general of the China Family Planning Association (CFPA).

In addition, there are 385 national-level "sunflower parent-child houses" in urban and rural communities nationwide, which organize parent-child activities and promote scientific parenting knowledge, He told a promotion event marking World Population Day on Thursday in Ordos, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Under this initiative, more than 1,000 guidance centers and approximately 4,000 parent-child houses at lower levels have been built across the country, He added.

He noted that through activities, such as classes for newlyweds and parents, and home visits, the association strives to provide consultation on prenatal and postnatal care, promote scientific parenting knowledge and skills, enhance the child-rearing abilities of families, and alleviate parental anxieties.

Li Bin, deputy head of the National Health Commission (NHC), said the commission will introduce more favorable policies to improve relevant services and create a more supportive social environment for childbearing and parenting.

It will also continue to make childcare services more publicly accessible with a higher nursery capacity for children and an improved system for cultivating talent in childcare services, according to another NHC official Yang Jinrui.

Moreover, the CFPA will base its efforts in the second half of the year on the current parent-child houses nationwide to promote a temporary childcare service mode that features mutual help within neighborhoods, while planning and building more such parent-child houses, pre- and post-natal care guidance centers and family healthcare centers.

According to data from the NHC, China currently has around 30 million infants aged under three, while over 30 percent of families with infants and young children have a need for nursery services.

As of February, China had nearly 100,000 facilities with childcare services, with about 4.8 million nursery enrollments.