Program would solve shortage of midwives

Yang Jie, head nurse of the gynecology and obstetrics department at Beijing Friendship Hospital, has her hands full.

The top-tier hospital recruits midwives who have an associate degree or higher, but Yang has found it hard to employ enough midwives with the requisite skills.

"To my knowledge, there is only one school in Beijing that offers the midwifery major. Junior high school graduates study for four years there and get an academic degree of a vocational high school education," said Yang, who is also a midwife.