| To improve obstetric healthcare services in county-, township- and village-level hospitals |
1. Equip county-level medical centers with necessary equipment for comprehensive emergency obstetric services; 2. Equip the central township hospitals with necessary equipment for basic emergency obstetric services, and general township hospitals with common obstetric equipment; 3. Develop standards for township hospital's obstetric facilities and personnel professional skills, and establish assessment and referral system for high-risk pregnancies; 4. Develop standards for assessment of village-, township- and county-level medical centers and hospitals; 5. Provide particular professional training to doctors and medical workers at different levels of medical centers and hospitals, such as modern delivery procedures, identification of high-risk pregnancy, critical obstetric cares; 6. Send experts from province- and city-level hospitals to county-, township- and village-level medical centers and hospitals for 3–6 months to instruct and train doctors and medical workers there |
Funded by the central and local government together (Central+local government): For 2000–2001: 100 million+100 million; For 2002–2003: 30 million+30 million; For 2004: 50 million+50 million; For 2005: 130 million+130 million; For 2006: 440 million+60 million; For 2007: 440 million+70 million; Total: 1.19 billion+0.44 billion |
| To establish obstetric emergency centers at county level |
Develop standards for obstetric emergency centers at county level. Setup one or two centers each country and equip them with essential emergency equipment, medicines and blood products, and assemble emergency teams by recruiting experienced doctors specialized in different divisions, such as obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, pediatrics, and laboratory medicine. The emergency centers provide 24-hour services and referral of high-risk pregnancies and women with pregnancy in their counties |
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| To develop an express obstetric emergency service, so called “green channel” |
Establish a referral network for high-risk pregnancies and women with pregnancy at three levels (village, township and county), mainly dependent on medical facilities in county-level hospitals. List contact information of all hospitals at three levels available for referral. Ensure ambulances are available 24-hours. Establish criteria for the referral system, and regulations on network management |
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| To expand hospital delivery to rural areas |
Reduce or waive the cost of hospital delivery to medical centers and hospitals at all levels to encourage rural women to use hospitals for delivery. Provide proportional reimbursement for the cost of hospital delivery thought a medical care system specifically to rural areas in China, referred to as the Country Cooperative Medicare |
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| To encourage health education |
Establish a community health education model, so- called “women as the core, the family as the best place” to conduct face-to-face education on maternal care, safe delivery, and other related health knowledge. Provide information on healthcare services available in their communities |
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| To strengthen supervision and guidance |
Establish guidelines for supervision and guidance for obstetric healthcare services at different levels (national, provincial and county), and conduct an inspection and assessment annually in order to avoid, and timely correct any mistakes |
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