Beijing, March 3 (ZXS) -- "We all expect labor analgesia to enter medical insurance as soon as possible, which is a pragmatic move to popularize childbirth analgesia and benefit more pregnant women." Yao Shanglong, the third president of the Anesthesiologist Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association and director of the Department of Anesthesiology of Union Hospital affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, said in Beijing on the 27th.
On the same day, the 2023 China Anesthesia Week was launched in Beijing. In an interview with the media, Yao Shanglong pointed out that after decades of exploration, China's childbirth analgesia technology has developed from following to running and even leading. "We have a standardized childbirth analgesia program, which has greatly improved the safety and effectiveness of childbirth analgesia in China."
This is the fifth year that China has launched a pilot work on childbirth analgesia. According to data from the National Anesthesia Quality Control Center, the labor analgesia rate in 912 pilot hospitals across the country has exceeded 50%. Xu Mingjun, chairman of the Anesthesia Professional Committee of the China Maternal and Child Health Care Association and director of the Department of Anesthesiology of Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, said that childbirth analgesia is a comfortable medicine, which reflects the humanistic care of modern anesthesia technology for pregnant women, so that women can enjoy "painless and happy delivery".
Given the global health situation, the target rate of analgesia in childbirth should be around 85%. At present, the utilization rate of childbirth analgesia in 912 pilot hospitals in China has reached more than 53%, while the overall prevalence rate of childbirth analgesia in non-pilot hospitals nationwide is only about 30%. There is still much room for the popularization of childbirth analgesia in China. During the two sessions of the National People's Political Consultative Conference this year, Huang Yuguang, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, chairman of the Anesthesiology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, and director of the Department of Anesthesiology of Peking Union Medical College Hospital, suggested that childbirth analgesia be included in separate medical insurance charges to benefit more people, and at the same time strengthen the training of nursing staff specializing in anesthesia at the grassroots level to achieve universal coverage of childbirth analgesia care at the grassroots level.
"The current situation in our country is that there are about 20 fees for childbirth analgesia in some provinces and cities, but very few have really entered medical insurance, only a few provinces and cities." Xu Mingjun said that in the long run, the entry of childbirth analgesia into national medical insurance is urgently needed by the people. The reason for the "separate" inclusion is recommended because China has a maternity insurance system and there are limits on its total amount. Without increasing the total amount, even if childbirth analgesia enters medical insurance, it will be difficult to help its promotion and application.
Yao Shanglong believes that anesthesiology must show its value, and this value needs to be reflected in the price. Reasonable labor analgesia charges can enable more women to choose labor analgesia under the condition that medical insurance may pay, which will play a great role in promoting the further popularization of childbirth analgesia in China.
At present, the work scene of anesthesiologists is not limited to surgical anesthesia in the operating room, but also involves comfort medicine, emergency and resuscitation, acute and chronic pain management and many other fields. The reporter learned from the meeting that the current number of anesthesiologists in China is about 10,5, there is a shortage of grassroots anesthesia medical personnel, and there is still a contradiction between supply and demand in anesthesia and analgesia services, including labor analgesia.
Analgesia during childbirth is critical to the safety of mothers and babies, and medical care is indispensable. During the two sessions this year, Huang Yuguang also suggested that more anesthesia specialist nurses should be recruited to provide more warm and high-quality medical services by increasing the number of anesthesia specialist nursing staff, improving treatment and promotion opportunities. At the meeting on the 27th, the anesthesiology expert also said that the birth and original intention of anesthesiology is to solve the problem of "pain" of patients. The development of the discipline hopes to attract more medical students to join the anesthesia industry and solve more urgent and long-awaited "pain" points for the public. (End)