China has unveiled two newly revised national standards aimed at improving the quality of services provided by maternity matrons and nannies, in a bid to support childbirth amid shifting demographics.
Effective March 1, 2025, these standards will regulate domestic maternal and baby nursing services, as well as home-based care services for children from birth to three years old, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Maternity matrons, known as \"yuesao\" in Chinese, provide postpartum care to mothers and newborns during the first month or longer after childbirth. Nannies, referred to as \"yu'ersao,\" care for young children and are increasingly sought after by Chinese parents seeking a better quality of life.
The new standard for maternity matrons introduces specific requirements for training, procedures, and service quality, better meeting consumers' growing demand for more professional, secure, and individualized services, and providing the basis for effective oversight, said Zhang Boyu, an expert on domestic service standards involved in drafting the policy.
The standards for nanny services include recommendations for addressing children's emotional and psychological needs in addition to their basic life needs, and offer guidelines for early education, according to experts who helped formulate the standard.
This initiative is part of China's comprehensive efforts to enhance childbirth support and address the challenges of a rapidly aging population. A directive from the State Council in October outlined 13 targeted measures to enhance childbirth support services, expand child care systems, strengthen support in education, housing and employment, and foster a birth-friendly social atmosphere.
Over the past decade, China has gradually relaxed its family planning policies, phasing out the decades-long one-child policy. In 2021, it announced support for couples wishing to have a third child.
Since then, local governments across China have implemented various stimulus measures for childbirth, including subsidies, expanded insurance coverage, extended maternity leave, and increased public child care facilities.
Reference(s):
China boosts maternity matron, nanny standards to support childbirth
cgtn.com