A top local maternity hospital said Thursday that it lacked the resources to comply with local officials' calls to add 100 extra beds to meet the demand from couples who want children born during the Year of the Dragon.

The complaint highlights the strain that the desire for "dragon babies" has taken on the city's top maternity hospitals this year, forcing some to add beds to hallways and conference rooms to keep up with demand.

"There will be a shortage of doctors, nurses and medical equipment if we add another 100 beds," said an official from International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital of China Welfare Institute. "It is impossible for us to come up with the resources by ourselves."

The hospital was one of three institutions that were called on to add more beds after vice mayor Shen Xiaoming visited the hospital Wednesday in response to complaints last month that pregnant women were having trouble finding beds in the city's best maternity wards. The other two hospitals were Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital and Shanghai Red House Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Health authorities estimated that the number of babies born in the city this year will jump 8 percent over last year to 220,000 births. But the rise in the number of births is only part of the problem.

Li Shanguo, an official with the health bureau, told local media last month that Shanghai's maternity wards have enough beds, but too many mothers-to-be are holding out for spots at the top hospitals.

Shanghai has 81 public medical institutions with maternity wards, yet one-fifth of the city's births took place at three of the city's top maternity hospitals in the first half of this year, according to the Shanghai Health Bureau.

The situation has led some of these hospitals to cram beds wherever they can find the space. The International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital cleared out several conference rooms and offices at the beginning of the year to make space, according to the Oriental Morning Post. Shanghai Red House Hospital has set up beds in its corridors.

The situation is only expected to get worse. "About 85,000 women gave birth through May, so the pressure will only get more intense in the second half of the year," said Song Guofan, an official with the health bureau.