China's capital city is set to increase maternity wards and maternity-care personnel to meet the new round of the baby boom.

A newborn is held by a nurse before taking a bath at the Gansu Provincial Maternity and Child-care Hospital in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, Feb. 17, 2016. The hospital saw a baby boom at the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year, with 352 babies born from Feb. 8 to 15.[Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese government's relaxation of the birth rule, which allows couples to have a second baby, along with people's preference for the Zodiac animal-monkey that is characterized by its intelligence and liveliness, are the main reasons leading to the anticipated baby boom.

According to official statistics, the number of newborns in Beijing this year is expected to surpass 300,000, with the newly registered and documented "expecting" population per month increased to 30,000 since last December.

Beijing Municipal Health and Family Planning Commission announced the transformation of VIP wards to general ones in order to ease the pressure on obstetrics units.

This will provide thousands more beds in the OB/GYN wards this month, and see 800 delivery specialists added by the end of this year.

Hospital authorities still express concerns over the gap between the growing demand for maternity services and understaffing of specialists in the OB/GYN wards.

To fill the gap, Beijing will give priority to professional obstetrics and perinatal caregivers, extending working tenures, raising salary levels and offering additional incentives, such as providing non-local practitioners with permanent residence status in the capital city.

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