A newborn in an incubator Photo: VCG

Seven Chinese provinces, including Jilin, Jiangsu, and Shandong, have taken the lead in making childbirth virtually free of charge, as China has in recent years significantly increased the coverage level of medical expenses for hospital deliveries and actively promoted full reimbursement of medical bills within the policy scope, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Tuesday.

A woman in South China's Guangdong Province recently commented under a post on the National Healthcare Security Administration's WeChat account, saying that she only spent 3.7 yuan ($0.52) on her childbirth at hospital, a revelation that quickly went viral online. 

This is not an isolated case. Since early 2025, more than 7,000 mothers in Guangdong's Guangzhou city have benefitted from reimbursement of maternity insurance, spending less than 100 yuan each out of their own pockets for childbirth. Among them, 881 mothers spent less than 10 yuan, and even 67 did not spend any money at all, according to the CCTV report. 

The broadcaster noted, however, that expenses for special-care wards or non-covered drugs and supplies remain ineligible for reimbursement. 

In East China's Jiangsu Province, insured pregnant women have had all hospital childbirth costs fully subsidized since July 2025, according to an article published on the provincial people's government website. 

At the end of April, Jiangsu's medical insurance bureau and finance department jointly announced a new subsidy policy covering hospital childbirth expenses for pregnant women, specifying that starting from July 1, personal out-of-pocket expenses for hospital childbirth will be subsidized, further reducing the financial burden on pregnant women. 

As of mid-July, 6,982 women had benefited, receiving a total of 6.93 million yuan in subsidies, according to the provincial government. 

In Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin Province, a new mother Shen Yun, who has recently given birth to twins, benefited from the real-time reimbursement policy for the newborn medical insurance. She had expected high hospital costs because her babies required incubator care, but the combined reimbursements, maternity allowance and childrearing subsidies she received ultimately exceeded her total expenses, CCTV reported. 

Zhao Yanhui, director of the obstetrics department from the Second Norman Bethune Hospital of Jilin University, said that unemployed spouses of insuredmale employees are also eligible for the reimbursement of their maternity and prenatal examination expenses, according to CCTV. 

In recent years, the National Healthcare Security Administration has accelerated efforts to build a full-cycle maternity security system to alleviate the costs of childbirth and childrearing, CCTV reported.

By the end of October, all 31 provinces, regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in China had included assisted reproduction in medical insurance, benefiting more than one million people.

Meanwhile, insurance to the prenatal examination is improving and labor pain relief service is gradually being included in coverage of medical insurance reimbursement. 

Regions across the country are enabling unemployment benefit recipients to join maternity insurance and are extending coverage to self-employed individuals, migrant workers, and those in emerging forms of employment. 

He Yafu, an independent demography expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday that this indicates a shift from childbirth being primarily a family financial responsibility to a shared social responsibility, with these provinces serving as a key model for nationwide adoption.