A painless childbirth center came into service at Suzhou Kowloon Hospital, an affiliate to School of Medicine at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, on Jan 31, aimed at helping the lying-in women ease the pain during labor.

The painless childbirth services are part of the No Pain Labor & Delivery-China Initiative developed by Lingqun Hu, associate professor of anesthesiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in a move to establish a number of training centers in China to teach safe and effective labor analgesia practices.

"Anesthetists play an important role in the services. We started training for related personnel five years ago as a prelude to the project. It is expected to benefit 50% of the pregnant women in Suzhou in one year's time,"said Yin Shuzhou, director of the hospital's anesthesiology department.

A seminar was held in the hospital on the same day, gathering global experts in anesthesia, obstetrics and newborn care to share their expertise and experience. It is reported that four theme events targeting pregnant and lying-in women will be held later.