The National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of China reported that there was an increase in maternal mortality in the first half of the year. The rising trend is blamed on the two-child policy.
The NHFPC report revealed that maternal mortality in 2015 had dropped to 20.1 per 100,000 live births. Infant mortality was 8.1 per 100,000 live births.
There was a decline of 62.1 percent and 74.8 percent from 2000.
In 2012, a United Nations report stated, "During the past decades, China has made substantial progress in reducing maternal and child mortality."
According to the data of the World Health Organization, China has had a decrease of maternal deaths from 1990 to 2015. In 2015, 27 mothers died in 100,000 who gave birth.
Between 2005 and 2015, there has only been a 5.8 percent decrease in maternal deaths. The two-child policy has changed the trend based on the statistics of the government.
However, the national ratio of maternal mortality in the first half of this year is 18.3 per 100,000 live births. This is about 31 percent higher than last year.
Ma Xiaowei, deputy head of the NHFPC, said that when the two-child policy was kicked off at the start of the year, many couples who wanted a second child decided to get pregnant. Many of the mothers are already high-risk because of their age.
These women already belonged to the 30 to 35 age bracket, according to Liang Zhongtang, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
Liang added that the rise in maternal deaths related to late-in-life pregnancies will decrease in two to three years.
China's reversal of the one-child policy aimed to address the country's aging population that is affecting the manufacturing sector and the lack of skilled workers.