China's Top Departments: Obstetrics & Gynecology at International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital

If you are planning maternity care in Shanghai, navigating a high-risk pregnancy, seeking fertility treatment or gynecologic surgery as an international family, the Obstetrics and Gynecology program at International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital is one of China's most storied destinations — a tertiary (Class A) specialty hospital founded by Soong Ching-ling in 1952, where nearly 500,000 newborns have been delivered over 70 years. Its VIP department offers one-stop services in English, Japanese and Korean, and in 2023 the hospital was selected as one of Shanghai's first pilot high-level public hospitals for international medical tourism.

Hospital Overview

• Full name: China Welfare Institute International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital (second title: "International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine"; one institution with two names)
• English name: International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital (IPMCH)
• Level: Tertiary (Class A) obstetrics and gynecology specialty hospital and maternal and child health hospital; a National Baby-Friendly Hospital, one of the national Top Ten Model Baby-Friendly Hospitals, and a Mother-and-Baby-Friendly Hospital; an affiliated hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
• Founded: September 18, 1952, established by Soong Ching-ling — Honorary President of the People's Republic of China and founder of the China Welfare Institute — using the 100,000-ruble Stalin International Peace Prize she was awarded
• Milestones: founded in 1952 at No. 170 Changshou Road, Putuo District (obstetrics only, 50 beds, 107 staff); relocated in October 1956 to the current site at No. 910 Hengshan Road, Xuhui District, adding an independent gynecology department; a family planning department was established in 1962; health care and neonatology departments in 1963; rated a Tertiary (Class A) specialty hospital in 1999; became an affiliated hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in 2006; the Fengxian Campus opened in September 2022 at the hospital's 70th anniversary
• Campuses:
  • Xuhui Campus: No. 910 Hengshan Road / No. 1961 Huashan Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai (480 authorized beds)
  • Fengxian Campus: No. 168 Wanghe Road / No. 1567 Jinqian Highway, Fengxian District, Shanghai (500 authorized beds)
• Scale: 980 authorized beds across both campuses; more than 1,100 staff members, including nearly 130 senior experts at associate chief physician level or above
• Service volume: nearly 1.35 million outpatient visits per year, more than 51,000 annual discharges and more than 32,000 annual surgeries; perinatal care indicators are at levels comparable to those of developed countries. Over 70 years since its founding, nearly 500,000 newborns have been delivered here, serving a population of 30 million
• Reputation: follows the guiding principle set by Soong Ching-ling — "experimental, demonstrative, and strengthening scientific research." It has won the National May 1st Labor Award and the Shanghai May 1st Labor Award, is a Shanghai Civilized Unit, and has been named one of the national Top Ten Model Baby-Friendly Hospitals, a National Baby-Friendly Health Hospital and a Mother-and-Baby-Friendly Hospital; in 2023 it was selected as one of Shanghai's first pilot high-level public hospitals for international medical tourism

Department Name and Level

• Department: Obstetrics and Gynecology (including obstetrics, gynecology, reproductive medicine, family planning, fetal medicine and prenatal diagnosis)
• Discipline status: Obstetrics and Gynecology was selected for the Shanghai Key Clinical Specialty construction program; received Shanghai key clinical specialty (obstetrics and gynecology) construction in 2018; and its endometrial malignancy field was included in the national list of major and intractable diseases under the Chinese-Western medicine clinical collaboration program
• Featured specialty credentials: National Perinatal Health Care Featured Specialty and National Menopause Health Care Featured Specialty
• Supporting platforms: Shanghai Birth Defects Prevention and Health Care Center; designated host of the Shanghai Prenatal Diagnosis Technical Quality Control Center; leading unit for the "Fetal Developmental Abnormality Diagnosis and Treatment Center" and the "Cervical Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center" of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine; Ministry of Health Level-IV Gynecologic Endoscopy Training Base; one of Shanghai's first Ministry of Health-approved assisted reproductive medicine centers; one of Shanghai's first National Health Commission-designated pilot units for high-throughput sequencing PGD and NIPT clinical application
• Academic platform: National Standardized Training Base for Obstetrics and Gynecology Residents, National Standardized Training Base for Midwives, and National Provincial Birth Defect Talent Training Base; offers doctoral programs in obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics, master's programs in clinical pathology, basic medicine, general surgery and anesthesiology, and serves as a postdoctoral training institution

Historical Development

• On September 18, 1952, the hospital was founded at No. 170 Changshou Road, Putuo District, with only an obstetrics specialty, 50 beds and 107 medical staff.
• In October 1956 it moved to the current site at No. 910 Hengshan Road, Xuhui District, adding an independent gynecology department and gynecologic oncology beds; a family planning department was established in 1962; health care and neonatology departments were set up in 1963 to enable unified mother-and-infant management.
• It was rated a Tertiary (Class A) specialty hospital in 1999 and became an affiliated hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in 2006.
• In September 2022, at the hospital's 70th anniversary, the Fengxian Campus opened, forming a two-campus layout in Xuhui and Fengxian; in 2023 it was selected as one of Shanghai's first pilot high-level public hospitals for international medical tourism.

Expert Team

• Prof. Wang Yudong: President of the hospital; MD, chief physician and doctoral supervisor; long engaged in clinical research on gynecologic oncology and reproduction. He has undertaken 13 research projects including National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) projects, cross-strait cooperation projects and key municipal science and technology projects; has published more than 100 papers (over 70 indexed in SCI) and 8 books; a visiting scholar at the James Cancer Hospital in Ohio. He is an outstanding academic leader of the Shanghai health system, a "Shanghai Craftsman" and a recipient of the Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Award. He serves as a member of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, vice chair of the Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Oncology Branch of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and chair of the Tumor Reproduction Branch of the China Eugenics Association. He specializes in minimally invasive surgery for benign and malignant gynecologic tumors with fertility preservation, gynecologic tumors in pregnancy, and comprehensive treatment of endometriosis and infertility.
• Prof. Hefeng Huang (Academician): Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (UK), and Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS); Director of the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Embryo-Originated Diseases (hosted by the hospital); long engaged in research on reproductive genetics and embryo-originated diseases, with more than 300 papers published in journals including Nature, Nature Medicine and PNAS.
• Prof. Cheng Weiwei: Obstetrics expert and former President of the hospital; chief physician specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of high-risk pregnancy, fetal developmental abnormalities and pregnancy complications.
• Prof. Fan Jianxia: Chief physician in obstetrics; involved in the National Key R&D Program project on "mechanisms and intervention of labor onset and preterm birth," with research covering gestational diabetes and related fields.
• Gynecology expert team (based on publicly available outpatient information): Wang Yudong; Zhang Jian (endometriosis, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, infertility); Hua Qi (infertility, gynecologic endocrinology); Zhang Guihong and Zhou Liangzhen (gynecologic oncology); Chen Xinliang (uterine prolapse, stress urinary incontinence); Wan Xiaoping and others.

Core Strengths and Technologies

• Obstetrics / maternal-fetal medicine: diagnosis and treatment of high-risk pregnancy, with a Fetal Medicine Department and a Prenatal Diagnosis Center; supported by the "Fetal Developmental Abnormality Diagnosis and Treatment Center" of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, it performs prenatal diagnosis and assessment of fetal developmental abnormalities and birth defects, with perinatal care indicators approaching or reaching advanced international levels.
• Gynecologic oncology: minimally invasive surgery for benign and malignant gynecologic tumors with fertility preservation; its endometrial malignancy field is included in the national major and intractable diseases Chinese-Western medicine clinical collaboration program; comprehensive treatment of gynecologic tumors in pregnancy and endometriosis.
• Minimally invasive gynecology / endoscopy: as a Ministry of Health Level-IV Gynecologic Endoscopy Training Base, it performs minimally invasive surgery for benign and malignant gynecologic tumors, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, endometriosis and intrauterine diseases.
• Cervical diseases: as the leading unit of the "Cervical Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center" of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, it provides cervical disease screening, colposcopy and treatment.
• Reproductive medicine: the Department of Reproductive Medicine was established in May 2000; in November 2001, approved by the Ministry of Health, it became one of Shanghai's first assisted reproductive medicine centers, offering in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI); in 2001 the hospital produced its first IVF, ICSI and frozen embryo transfer babies; in 2009 it took the lead in fully introducing embryo vitrification in Shanghai; in 2014 it was approved for preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD); it offers assisted hatching, blastocyst culture and oocyte freezing, and the derived preimplantation genetic screening (PGS).
• Birth defect prevention and control: as the Shanghai Birth Defects Prevention and Health Care Center and one of the first pilot units for high-throughput sequencing PGD and NIPT clinical application, it builds a source-level birth defect prevention and control system; the Department of Reproductive Genetics provides preimplantation testing and prenatal diagnosis.
• Urogynecology and pelvic floor: diagnosis and treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction such as uterine prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.
• Family planning: the Department of Family Planning enjoys a high clinical and research standing in Shanghai and nationwide; it is one of the earliest hospitals in China to perform subdermal contraceptive implants and medical abortion, one of Shanghai's earliest clinical drug trial units, and has undertaken multiple WHO, national and municipal projects.
• Menopause health care: a National Menopause Health Care Featured Specialty providing comprehensive menopause management; a Traditional Chinese Medicine gynecology unit is also available for integrated Chinese-Western medicine treatment of gynecologic conditions.

International Medical Services and Research Platforms

• A VIP department (in the obstetrics and gynecology comprehensive building) offers one-stop outpatient and inpatient services with single rooms and suites; service languages include English, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin and Shanghainese. In 2023 the hospital was selected as one of Shanghai's first pilot high-level public hospitals for international medical tourism.
• Key research platforms: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Embryo-Originated Diseases, the Birth Defects and Rare Diseases Clinical Research Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine Clinical Research Center sub-center.
• Research achievements: it has undertaken multiple major international cooperation projects of the National Natural Science Foundation (as leading unit) and National Key R&D Programs (as leading unit); its research results have won the National Science and Technology Progress Award (Second Class), the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award (First Class), the National Key Science and Technology Project Major Achievement Award, and the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award (First Class).

Scale and Honors

• Nearly 1.35 million outpatient visits per year, more than 51,000 annual discharges and more than 32,000 annual surgeries; over 70 years since its founding, nearly 500,000 newborns have been delivered here, serving a population of 30 million.
• Obstetrics and Gynecology was selected for the Shanghai Key Clinical Specialty construction program; National Perinatal Health Care Featured Specialty and National Menopause Health Care Featured Specialty.
• National May 1st Labor Award, Shanghai May 1st Labor Award and Shanghai Civilized Unit; one of the national Top Ten Model Baby-Friendly Hospitals, a National Baby-Friendly Health Hospital and a Mother-and-Baby-Friendly Hospital.

Address and Contact

• Xuhui Campus: No. 910 Hengshan Road / No. 1961 Huashan Road, Xuhui District, Shanghai (postal code 200030)
• Fengxian Campus: No. 168 Wanghe Road / No. 1567 Jinqian Highway, Fengxian District, Shanghai
• Telephone: 021-64070434
• Website: https://www.ipmch.com.cn/

For a quick overview of the department, see the International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital Obstetrics & Gynecology department page.

Planning a birth or gynecologic care in Shanghai? Contact Medora for a free, personalized consultation — we help international families coordinate appointments, interpretation and treatment at one of China's leading maternity hospitals.