SHANGHAI: The phone calls started soon after Chen Xin's wife received her first pregnancy examination.

The callers offered a variety of services for the couple's as yet unborn child. The only trouble was that nobody knew Chen's wife was pregnant except his wife, Chen and the hospital.

"She left my phone number at the hospital," Chen said. "A few days later, the first calls started coming in, offering care and private health coaches for my wife. Then more followed, offering everything from insurance to brushes made from the baby's hair."