Baby boom continues in Shanghai

About 238,000 babies were born in Shanghai last year, the most in a decade, local media reported Tuesday.

Much of 2012 fell during the Year of the Dragon, a year of the Chinese zodiac that many consider lucky to be born in. Three popular hospitals specialized in maternity each added 100 beds last year to meet the anticipated extra demand, according to a report in the Shanghai Evening News.

The baby boom is the result of several trends, including an increase in the number of migrants who are giving birth in the city, Huang Hong, the director of the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission, said at a press conference last December. In addition, many of the new parents are themselves the product of a baby boom in the 1980s.

In 2012, four top-level hospitals designated to treat women undergoing risky pregnancies saved 345 pregnant women, 98.8 percent of the total number admitted, according to the report. Six hospitals designated to treat newborns in critical condition saved 4,690 children, a 91.4 percent success rate.

Pregnant women were allowed to undergo nine free tests last year to determine their health. Each patient gets assigned a color that indicates her condition, with purple the most severe and green the least severe. Patients with a red status must be transferred to a Tier 3 hospital.

Those with purple status must be transferred to the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center.