Opening a pregnancy file (建卡)

What it is

建卡 (jiàn kǎ) is the hospital opening a formal pregnancy medical record. In the public system, delivery beds are assigned from that file. Arriving in labor without a file can place you in a hospital you did not choose, at a cost that is hard to review in advance.

In Beijing there is a step before this one. You register at your local 社区卫生服务中心 and receive the 母子健康手册, and the hospital opens your file after that. The prenatal checks guide covers that sequence, what to bring, and what is checked at each visit.

What to bring

Passports and current visas or residence permits for both parents. A marriage certificate, ideally with a Chinese notarial translation. Any prenatal records from another city or country, translated into Chinese. Your Chinese phone number. Cash or a working local payment method for the file fee.

Hospitals will ask for a local address. Use the address on your residence permit to avoid delays.

Public versus private

At Peking University Third Hospital or a district women’s hospital, opening a file is a morning of numbered windows and blood tests. Go with someone who can speak Mandarin.

At United Family, OASIS, or Amcare, the file is usually included in the maternity package. You are still opening an official record. The process is simply more organized.

You can usually hold a serious delivery file at only one public hospital. Do not open files at several hospitals “just in case.” Choose one and complete the process there. If that hospital is Peking University Third Hospital, use the 北医三院 walkthrough for desks, timing, and the WeChat booking account.