Beijing (AFP)

Anxious about the coronavirus, Chinese women give birth in stress, avoid prenatal examinations in the hospital to avoid any infection, or consult in expensive private clinics which are considered safer.

A young mother, Ms. Xie, told AFP that she gave birth to her daughter without her husband or other family member, as none of them was able to take her to hospital in Wuhan (center), at the heart of the epidemic.

Placed under quarantine since the end of January, the city concentrates 62% of the cases of Covid-19 registered in China. Almost the entire population remains confined to their homes.

For fear of catching the coronavirus in hospitals, Ms. Xie gave up taking prenatal exams there. The roadblocks that dot Wuhan would have made the journey anyway more complicated.

"They let me pass when I went to give birth," said the young mother, however. "But when I got there, there was only one room left."

"During my entire stay, I had to wear a mask and gloves. I regularly cleaned my hands and rarely left my bed."

Some 50 million people are under quarantine in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei Province.

Propaganda videos broadcast by the media regularly show volunteers in full suits driving pregnant women to the hospital.

- 'I panicked' -

But Xu Tingting, from Huanggang, a town bordering Wuhan, told AFP that he found a vehicle with great difficulty at the time of the first contractions.

"I asked my parents to take me to the hospital. But it took them two hours to find a car. So I panicked. I thought I was going to have a baby at home alone," said she.

"My husband was in another city and was not allowed to return because of his quarantine. In the end, it was the owner of the grocery store downstairs who drove me with his utility."

The two young mothers are now anxious about going to see the pediatrician at the hospital with their baby - two boys.

"I still have 20 days to get him vaccinated. I hope everything will be under control by then," tries to reassure Ms. Xie.

With more than 80,000 people infected and 2,900 dead in China, pregnant women across the country are worried.

In Beijing, Angelika Fu is due to give birth in two weeks. She chose a private clinic, despite prices 10 times higher when in the public.

"It's more expensive, but we want to avoid the world and feel safe," she told AFP.

- More or less children? -

Psychological assistance services say they have seen an increase in demand.

"In a month, dozens of pregnant women and young mothers called us completely stressed," said a telephone assistance volunteer created by a Protestant church in Beijing.

The epidemic comes at a time when the fertility rate is declining in China. And this, despite the relaxation of the policy of birth control, which now allows couples to have two children.

And according to Yi Fuxian, an obstetrics expert at the University of Wisconsin in the United States, the health crisis will have a demographic impact.

"The epidemic will lead to a further drop in GDP growth, an increase in unemployment and a decrease in household income. This means a decrease in the financial capacity to raise children as well as in the fertility rate", he anticipates.

Others believe that long periods spent at home in quarantine are conducive to encouraging conception.

A propaganda banner displayed in the streets of a city in the province of Henan (center) thus flatters the virility and the patriotism of the inhabitants: "Having a second child is a good way to make a contribution to the country".

© 2020 AFP