Mothers have cesareans for earlier school starts

Many pregnant women in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, had cesarean sections to give birth to their babies before their due date as they wanted the child to go to school one year earlier, Guangzhou Daily reported on Monday.

Chinese education regulations rule that Sept 1 is the beginning date of the autumn term for primary schools and also the cutoff date for children born before or on Aug 31 to start primary school at 7 years old. For example, a child born on Aug 31, 2007, can attend school from Sept 1, but a child born on Sept 1, 2007, will not be allowed to go to school until Sept 1, 2015.

Therfore, many pregnant women whose due dates were in September went to hospitals in Shenzhen asking for cesarean sections. According to obstetricians at a hospital in the city, one baby was born nearly every hour in the last three days of August, and more than 60 percent of the newborns were delivered through cesarean section. Some mothers had only been pregnant 37 or 38 weeks, compared to an average 40 weeks gestation period.