Family sizes

China witnessed a quick uptick in birthrates after restrictions on having a second child were lifted in 2015. But statistics point to the cooling of the second-child boom in recent years.

Echoing the nation's shrinking birthrates, the annual new births in Anqing saw consecutive drops from 2020 to 2022, falling from 37,000 in 2020 to 28,000 in 2021, and 25,000 in 2022.

The total number of the city's registered residents in 2022 was 4.156 million, a year-on-year drop of 0.36 percent, the city's statistics office said.

Tong Chen, a physician at Anqing Municipal Hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department, said despite shrinking overall birth numbers, most married couples in smaller towns like Anqing have a strong desire to have a child. However, the desire to have a second child is weaker.

"Cities like Anqing are not like big metropolises. Some people working and living in bigger cities are more willing to live alone and have a freer lifestyle. If young people get married here, they usually try to have a child as soon as they can," she said.

Tong joined the hospital's medical staff in 2010 and has two children.

She has witnessed instances of couples having one child but disagreeing on having a second child, as was the case with one of her female colleagues.

"After giving birth to the first child, she wanted to have another one, but her husband did not support her," Tong recalled. "He said:'I have a child and I am a father already. It's enough to know what it is like to be a dad. I can't handle more children.'"

Jiang Xihuan, the head nurse of Tong's department, said: "Young fathers-to-be should also get more involved in learning about childbirth and parenting. Based on our experience, some pregnant women are easily distracted when attending pregnancy classes due to pregnancy discomfort and tiredness."

Jiang, 55, specializes in the use of music therapy and meditation to help relieve the pain of pregnancy and childbirth.

She is also a certified fertility instructor with the International Childbirth Education Association and last year offered free classes and workshops for pregnant women in local communities.

Some fathers-to-be undergo simulated labor pain to understand what their partner is going through, but Jiang believes this is "far from enough"."Although it can make a young father feel sympathetic, it produces no immediate effects on easing the wife's various pains," she said.

The husband, the entire family and even society should consider ways to help pregnant women eliminate psychological pain and deal with challenges, she said.