Wenzhou's Health Maternity and Child Guidance Center disclosed that in 2023, there were 52,900 births across the city, a decrease of 8.17 percent compared to 2022's 58,000 births.
This decline, consistent over the seven years since the peak following the implementation of the two-child policy in 2016, showed signs of slowing, with 2023 marking the lowest decrease in recent years.
Maternal age showed an upward trajectory, with the average age of first-time mothers being 28.14 years and that of second-time mothers being 31.46 years in 2023. There was a shift in age distribution, with fewer mothers under 25 and more in the 30-34 and over 35 age groups compared to 2016. High-risk mothers also increased, reaching 80.23 percent over the past seven years.
There were at least 1,544 pairs of twins born in 2023, accounting for 7.49 percent of total births, with a slight decrease in premature births compared to the previous year. Low-birth-weight babies accounted for 5.2 percent of the total, while large babies constituted 4.69 percent, including some weighing over 6,000 grams.
