When the year began, 90 million Chinese women were allowed to have a second child because of the new two-child policy, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said. This means that the country's current population of 1.4 billion will significantly increase. 

Hospitals are feeling most of the pressure that comes with the two-child policy. China's public health statistics show that the number of pediatricians dropped 105,000 to 100,000 in a span of five years, which means that there are only 43 doctors for every 100,000 children. 

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At the Sun Yat-sen University Third Hospital, the pediatric department's emergency services is closed because of lack of doctors. 

"Since the department was established in 2011, we have employed eight doctors. Four left in the following years," said Shan Yutao, a worker at the hospital's medical management office.

Many pediatricians are leaving their posts because of many factors such as high pressure and risk, but the most prominent is the low pay. 

Chinese hospitals' pediatric department receive less funds than the other departments because its primary source of income, medicines and examination fees, are minimal as children are prescribed less medicine. The dosage for 10 to 15 children is only equal to one adult's. 

Shortage of doctors, deluge of patients

Xinhua learned that the pediatric department of Tangdu Hospital, one of the best hospitals Shaanxi province's capital city Xi'an, is overwhelmed every day with patients. It receives more than 500 patients daily but only has 36 doctors working in shifts.

The situation is much worse in smaller cities and counties. Wang Baoxi, a pediatrician at the Shaanxi branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, said that he receives more than 100 outpatients in the morning. Because of too many patients, he can only spend a few minutes with each patient. 

In Weinan City in the east of Shaanxi, only 17 doctors are available to take care of 100,000 children. 

In Xi'an Central Hospital, there are only three senior doctors out of the total 16 pediatricians.

"We have lowered our standard, but still we don't have enough pediatricians," said Luo Zhijuan, director of the pediatric department. 

Qian Xueming, a political advisor, said that he only know five universities with pediatric departments because most stopped accepting pediatric majors. He proposed a supply-side reform to the annual "two sessions," a trilateral meeting that includes various administrative bodies. 

Before the two-child policy was implemented, the government passed a regulation that mandates general hospitals to have a pediatric department and donate five percent of the hospital beds to the said department. 

Tagstwo-child policy effects, pediatricians in China, Chinese hospitals not ready for two-child policy