More anesthetists needed to ease labor pains

A national political adviser has proposed expanding the number of anesthesiologists in China to help make childbirth and labor less painful.

Huang Yuguang, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee and head of the Peking Union Medical College Hospital's anesthesia department, said the idea was conceived due to the expected increase in the number of births due to the universal second-child policy.

"A major cause that impedes pain-free natural birth in China is the shortage of anesthetists," Huang said at the annual session of CPPCC National Committee.