Vocabulary

Open a pregnancy file

Opening your official pregnancy record at the hospital where you plan to give birth. In a public hospital this is also how a delivery bed is reserved, so it is the appointment that matters most in the first trimester.

Say it: At the obstetrics desk, to ask whether you can open a file there.

Also written 建档 (jiàn dàng)

Reserve a place

A provisional booking made once a scan shows a heartbeat, usually around 6 to 9 weeks. It holds your place until the formal file is opened.

Formal file

The full pregnancy record, usually completed around 9 to 12 weeks. After about 14 weeks some public hospitals stop accepting new files.

We are unmarried foreigners. Can we open a file?

Hospitals handle unmarried foreign parents case by case. Asking this on the phone, before you travel across the city, saves a wasted morning.

Say it: On the phone to the international desk.

Mother and child health handbook

Beijing's pregnancy handbook, issued by your local community health service center. In Beijing you get this first, and the hospital file second. Bring it to every appointment.

Say it: At the community health center, to ask to be registered.

Also written 建册 (jiàn cè)

Appointment

A booking. Most Beijing hospitals expect you to book through a WeChat official account rather than walk in.

Register

Registering on arrival to get a number for a department. Nothing happens until this is done, and it is the first window you look for.

Say it: At the registration hall, naming the department you need.

Obstetrics

The maternity department. This is the word to look for on signs and appointment menus.

Regular obstetrics

The standard public queue. It is the lowest-cost path and almost everything runs in Chinese.

International medical department

The floor of a public hospital where bilingual staff, if the hospital has any, are assigned. Fees are higher than the regular queue.

Say it: At the information desk, to ask where it is.

Also written 国际医疗 (guójì yīliáo)

Special-needs ward

A quieter public floor with shorter waits, more bilingual staff, and higher fees. Most foreign patients at public hospitals use it.

Maternal and child health hospital

The district maternity hospital. Every Beijing district has one, and they are usually the lowest-cost competent option near you.

Also written 妇幼 (fùyòu)

Emergency department

Where to go outside clinic hours, and the sign to look for if you arrive in labor at night.

Say it: To a taxi driver or at the hospital gate.

Pediatrics

The children's department, where you take the baby after the birth.

Top-grade hospital

The highest rating in China's hospital grading system, often shortened to 3A. It tells you the hospital handles complex cases, not that it speaks English.

Prenatal check-up

A routine pregnancy appointment. You will have many, and they get more frequent near the end.

Ultrasound

A scan. Said with the English letter B, then chāo.

Down syndrome screening

Blood screening for chromosomal conditions, usually between 15 and 20 weeks. The non-invasive DNA test (无创DNA) is the more accurate paid alternative.

Also written 无创DNA (wúchuàng DNA)

Anomaly scan

The detailed ultrasound that checks the baby's structure, done between 20 and 24 weeks. It is the longest scan of the pregnancy and is usually booked well ahead.

Also written 胎儿系统超声筛查 (tāi'ér xìtǒng chāoshēng shāichá)

Glucose tolerance test

The test for gestational diabetes, between 24 and 28 weeks. You fast beforehand, drink a glucose solution, and have blood taken across about two hours.

Also written 糖耐量筛查 (táng nài liàng shāichá)

Fetal monitoring

A belt monitor that records the baby's heartbeat, usually weekly near the end of the pregnancy. Each session takes 20 minutes or more.

Epidural pain relief

Pain relief in labor. Availability varies between hospitals and can depend on the time of day, so ask before you choose where to give birth.

Say it: When you ask what pain relief a hospital offers, and again in labor.

Vaginal birth

A vaginal delivery. Prices and ward rules are usually quoted separately for this and a C-section.

C-section

A caesarean. Ask in advance what would lead to one, and who decides.

Partner present at the birth

Whether your partner may stay with you in labor, and at a C-section. Rules differ by hospital and change, so confirm the current one in writing.

Say it: When you tour the ward, to ask whether your partner can stay.

Medical record booklet

The paper record you carry to every appointment. In many public hospitals you keep it yourself, and staff will ask for it at each window.

City social insurance

Beijing's social insurance. Foreign employees on work permits are not always covered in the same way as local staff, so ask your employer whether it applies to you and what it covers.

Maternity insurance

The maternity part of social insurance. Ask specifically whether it is included, because it is the part that pays toward the birth.

Deposit

A sum paid up front on admission, settled against the final bill. Public hospital windows often want WeChat Pay, Alipay, or cash rather than a foreign card.

Medical birth certificate

The document the hospital issues after the birth. Almost every embassy needs it, so check both parents' names against the passports before you accept it.

Notary office

Where the birth certificate is notarized and translated. Use one that has handled foreign birth certificates before, and allow several weekdays.

Vaccination booklet

A small booklet recording your child's vaccinations. Keep it with the passports, because kindergartens and schools ask for it.

Community health service center

The neighborhood clinic that runs routine childhood vaccinations and issues the vaccination booklet.

Household registration

Chinese household registration. A foreign newborn does not get one, which is why your child needs a passport and a Chinese visa instead.

Postpartum nanny

A live-in helper for the weeks after the birth, caring for the baby and the mother. Usually hired by the month, and booked well in advance.

Household helper

A cleaner, cook, or nanny, hired by the hour or full time. The same word is a polite way to address an older woman.

Central heating

City heating, switched on and off on fixed dates each winter. Worth asking about before you sign a lease with a baby due in the cold months.