China has slashed the death rate of newborn babies by almost two-thirds in 12 years by promoting hospital births, research has shown.
Deaths fell from 24.7 per 1,000 live births in 1996 to 9.3 in 2008. Only half of women gave birth in hospital at the start of that period, whereas by the end almost all did so outside the most deprived rural areas.
The study, led by Xing Linfeng and Yan Guo of Peking University and published in the Lancet, was based on data from 37 Chinese urban districts and 79 rural counties.
"The decline is spectacular across all the regions," said Professor Carine Ronsmans of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who co-authored the study.
Janet Balaskas, founder of the Active Birth Centre compares home and hospital births:
Where did you give birth? Were you able to choose between home and hospital? What would you do next time round? Tell us your experiences in today's Birth chat group discussion...
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