The Department of Obstetrics at Shenzhen Bao'an Women's and Children's Hospital is a Key Clinical Specialty in Guangdong Province, Key Medical Discipline in Shenzhen, and Key Discipline in Bao'an District. It also serves as the Critical Maternal Rescue Center in Bao'an District and a member unit of the Southern Maternal-Fetal Medicine Specialty Alliance. Shouldering the responsibility for women’s and children’s health across the district, it has long undertaken the rescue and referral of critically ill pregnant women in western Shenzhen and surrounding areas. With the hospital’s continuous growth, guided by senior experts and through the dedicated efforts of generations of staff, the department has advanced steadily in medical treatment, teaching, and research. It has evolved into a modern medical center integrating prevention, perinatal healthcare, maternal-child health education, clinical practice, teaching, and scientific research.
The department operates 8 wards, 319 beds, and 12 independent delivery rooms. It has a medical team of 339 staff, including 12 chief physicians, 41 associate chief physicians, 1 doctoral supervisor, 4 master supervisors, 4 PhD holders, and 75 master’s degree holders.
The department diagnoses and treats critical conditions including hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, placenta previa, placental abruption, gestational diabetes mellitus, intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy, pregnancy combined with internal and surgical diseases, various difficult labors, and postpartum hemorrhage. It performs a full range of advanced procedures: cesarean section, forceps delivery, repair of third- and fourth-degree perineal lacerations, external cephalic version for breech presentation, cervical cerclage, amnioinfusion, cesarean section for pernicious placenta previa, prophylactic abdominal aortic balloon occlusion, transverse uterine compression suture, ligation of ascending branches of uterine artery, uterine balloon tamponade, total hysterectomy for postpartum hemorrhage, and repair of ruptured uterus in late pregnancy.
As a teaching base for Jinan University and a Collaborative Base for Standardized Residency Training in Guangdong Province, and as a key clinical specialty in Guangdong Province, the department has established subspecialty wards for obstetric critical care, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, placenta previa and twin pregnancy, miscarriage and preterm birth, metabolic diseases in pregnancy, and scarred uterus. It runs specialty clinics including general obstetrics, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, placenta previa, diabetes, scarred uterus, miscarriage and preterm birth, twin pregnancy, mother-to-child transmission prevention for HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B, pregnancy nutrition, midwife consultation, breastfeeding, and psychological sandplay. Each subspecialty is staffed with core clinicians, reserve talents, and research assistants, forming a highly qualified professional team. The department has introduced leading maternal-fetal medicine expert teams led by Professor Leung Tak Yeung and Professor Choi Kwong Wai from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the recurrent miscarriage team led by Professor Zhang Jianping from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, to provide full-cycle maternal-fetal health management throughout pregnancy.
I. Subspecialties
1. Obstetric Critical Care Subspecialty
It is a vice-chair unit of the High-Risk Pregnancy Committee of the Chinese Maternal and Child Health Association and Guangdong Province, the Critical Maternal Referral and Rescue Center in Bao'an District, and a training base for emergency and critical maternal rescue in Bao'an District. Through standardized management, a high-risk pregnancy early warning system has been established to reduce severe maternal morbidity. Information systems strengthen pre-hospital and in-hospital emergency coordination. Discipline development has cultivated a high-level critical care team, forming a critical maternal referral and rescue center for western Shenzhen.
Advanced procedures include prophylactic abdominal aortic balloon occlusion, superselective uterine artery embolization, plasma exchange, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). The subspecialty successfully rescues patients with amniotic fluid embolism, septic shock, acute fatty liver of pregnancy, acute left heart failure, pernicious placenta previa, refractory postpartum hemorrhage, and diabetic ketoacidosis.
2. Miscarriage and Preterm Birth Prevention Subspecialty
Through standardized diagnosis and treatment and talent development, the subspecialty addresses clinical challenges in recurrent miscarriage and explores its pathogenesis. It collaborates with prenatal diagnosis, neonatology, and child health to improve survival and follow-up rehabilitation for very low birth weight preterm infants.
Main conditions treated: recurrent miscarriage, subchorionic hematoma, cervical insufficiency, oligohydramnios in the second trimester, twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) and other complex twin complications, preterm prelabor rupture of membranes remote from term, and fetal growth restriction.
Focusing on recurrent miscarriage, the subspecialty performs cervical cerclage (especially emergency cerclage) and amnioinfusion. With the guidance of Professor Zhang Jianping, a renowned expert in reproductive immunology and miscarriage, the team has enhanced clinical and research capabilities, building a leading miscarriage and preterm birth prevention center in Shenzhen.
3. Twin Pregnancy and Placenta Previa Subspecialty
Standardized management of twin pregnancy, placenta previa, and other high-risk conditions ensures maternal and infant safety. In April 2021, the hospital was approved by the Chinese Maternal and Child Health Association as one of the first Standardized Twin Pregnancy Clinics and a project unit for standardized twin pregnancy management. It provides integrated care including twin pregnancy clinics, wards, and postpartum follow-up. The next goal is to build a regional demonstration center for standardized twin pregnancy management.
4. Metabolic Diseases in Pregnancy Subspecialty
Supported by the Internet + Perinatal Nutrition Clinic, the subspecialty conducts screening, assessment, guidance, and intervention for pregnancy nutrition and weight management, supported by big data to promote healthy diet and exercise, reduce the incidence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and adverse maternal-infant outcomes. It is the first and only subspecialty for metabolic diseases in pregnancy in western Shenzhen.
The One-Day Diabetes Clinic provides standardized education for women with GDM and pregestational diabetes mellitus (PGDM), covering disease basics, maternal-fetal impacts, diet therapy, exercise, blood glucose monitoring, and insulin treatment, with high patient satisfaction.
5. Vaginal Birth After Cesarean Section (VBAC) Subspecialty
A comprehensive VBAC management and rescue system has been established, offering preconception, antenatal, and intrapartum guidance through education, case registration, specialty clinics, dedicated wards, and delivery room management. Big data analysis identifies risk factors and safety strategies. Key measures include early recognition of uterine rupture, 5-minute emergency cesarean section, 100% labor analgesia, and full humanistic care to ensure maternal and infant safety.
II. Featured Services
(1) New Obstetric Management Model – Prenatal Control Center
Designated as a China-US Demonstration Base for New Maternal-Infant Care Model, the center optimizes workflows, strengthens pre-hospital and in-hospital emergency coordination, enables early identification of critical cases, and supports 5-minute emergency cesarean section, safeguarding maternal and infant safety.
Functions:
Admission and triage: one-stop blood tests and examinations, unified ward allocation.
Observation beds: manage latent-phase labor, screen false labor, reduce unnecessary admissions.
Surgical preparation: 2-hour preoperative admission for elective surgeries; emergency surgery preparation.
Early critical care identification: delivery supplies in the emergency department; 5-minute emergency cesarean section protocol.
(2) Modern Delivery Room
A Midwifery Practice and Education Base in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, featuring safety, painless labor, companionship, privacy, and humanistic care. It has 12 independent delivery rooms and 16 labor beds, with full-time family companionship, non-invasive delivery, free labor positions, continuous mother-infant skin-to-skin contact, and delayed cord clamping.
Services:
Painless Labor: epidural analgesia since 2005; joined the Labor Painless China Tour in 2012; implemented the Advanced Obstetric Anesthesia Program in 2015.
5-Minute Emergency Cesarean Section: activated for fetal distress, placental abruption, umbilical cord prolapse, uterine rupture.
Pregnancy School: weekly courses on pregnancy, childbirth, infant nutrition, breastfeeding, and care.
Maternal-Infant Collaboration: 24/7 in-house neonatologists for high-risk newborns.
Humanistic Care: midwife clinics, birth plans, labor rehearsal, husband accompaniment, and postpartum brown sugar water and eggs.
(3) Postpartum Continuity Care
Responding to national and municipal policies, the department pioneered an Internet + Nursing Service and a maternity care continuity team. Senior nurses provide in-home care for mothers and newborns after discharge, ensuring coordinated and continuous care from hospital to home.
Services:
Newborn: temperature, jaundice, metabolic screening, umbilical care, feeding assessment, skin care.
Mothers: uterine involution, wound recovery, lochia assessment, breastfeeding guidance, galactostasis relief, diet and exercise advice.
(4) Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Obstetrics
TCM physicians conduct daily postpartum rounds. Services include herbal medicine for lochial discharge, TCM treatment for cough, dizziness, hyperhidrosis, and fever; acupuncture and acupoint application for postpartum uterine pain, neck/back pain, intestinal paralysis, urinary retention, incontinence, and facial paralysis. Nurses are trained in TCM nursing (ear acupoints, herbal foot soaks), and dietary therapy guidance is provided.
(5) Obstetric Informatization
Smart healthcare improves patient experience, quality, and safety. The system displays real-time data on observation patients, specimen transport, labor progress, operating room status, surgery scheduling, and workload. Patients use the hospital WeChat account for registration, parking, navigation, payment, remote fetal monitoring, report queries, and health education. IoT-enabled self-service devices collect height, weight, blood pressure, and fetal monitoring data. Integrated platforms support perinatal, weight-nutrition, blood glucose, and hypertensive disorders management.
(6) VIP Ward Features
Deluxe single rooms and suites with home-like comfort and family-centered care.
Husband accompaniment during cesarean section for early father-infant bonding.
Nutritionist dietary guidance, TCM rehabilitation, and breastfeeding counseling.
Bedside checkout and volunteer escort to the parking lot.
Bedside phototherapy for mild-to-moderate neonatal hyperbilirubinemia (no transfer needed).
The Department of Obstetrics at Shenzhen Bao'an Women's and Children's Hospital upholds a life-cycle perspective to protect maternal-fetal health from conception through delivery and critical care. By developing subspecialties and multidisciplinary collaboration, it builds a comprehensive maternal-fetal health system integrating prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Guided by the hospital motto “Benevolent Heart, Excellent Skill; Professional Dedication”, the department is committed to providing safe, high-quality, and compassionate care for every mother and baby.
