China's Top Departments: Obstetrics & Gynecology at Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital

If you are planning a birth in Shanghai as an international family, managing a high-risk pregnancy, or seeking minimally invasive gynecologic or fertility treatment, the Obstetrics and Gynecology program at Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital is one of China's leading destinations — a tertiary maternity specialty hospital where about one in every five newborns in Shanghai is born and one of the city's first pilot public hospitals for international medical tourism.

Hospital Overview

• Full name: Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital (second title: "Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University"; in 2025 also named "Shanghai Red Cross First Maternity and Infant Hospital")
• Level: Tertiary (Class A) maternity and child health specialty hospital; a National Civilized Unit, a National Baby-Friendly Hospital, a designated hospital for municipal health care, and one of Shanghai's first pilot public hospitals for international medical tourism
• Founded: February 1947; one of the earliest provincial/municipal-level maternity and child health hospitals established in China
• Milestones: passed the first national batch of Baby-Friendly Hospital review in 1992; rated a Tertiary (Class A) specialty hospital in 1995; became the First Maternity and Infant Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University in 2006; its second title was renamed "Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University" in November 2023
• Campuses:
  • East Campus: No. 2699 Gaoke West Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai (500 authorized beds; opened in 2013)
  • West Campus: No. 536 Changle Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai (about 100 authorized beds)
  • South Campus: No. 391 Yaohua Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai (mainly serving high-end obstetric care for domestic and international clients)
• Scale: more than 800 open beds and nearly 1,800 staff members; more than 20 distinctive subspecialty groups
• Reputation: Obstetrics is a National Key Clinical Specialty (first batch), and Gynecology is a Shanghai "top-priority" key clinical discipline; the hospital has ranked among the top 10 in the China Hospital Science and Technology Value (STEM) ranking for several consecutive years and among the top three nationally in the specialty-specific STEM ranking; since 2018 it has remained in the "double top 10" of both the STEM (Obstetrics and Gynecology) ranking and the China Hospital Rankings (specialty composite)

Department Name and Level

• Department: Obstetrics and Gynecology (including obstetrics, gynecology and related subspecialties)
• Discipline level: Obstetrics is a National Key Clinical Specialty (first batch) and a national maternity-period featured health care base; Gynecology is a Shanghai "top-priority" key clinical discipline
• Supporting platforms: Shanghai Branch of the National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric and Gynecologic Diseases; APAGE Asia-Pacific Endoscopy Training Center; the Ministry of Health's "Level-IV Gynecologic Endoscopy Training Base"; Shanghai Critical Neonatal Consultation and Rescue Center; Shanghai Prenatal Diagnosis Center; Shanghai Obstetrics Clinical Quality Control Center; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Maternal-Fetal Medicine; Shanghai Institute of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Gynecologic Oncology; National Stem Cell Translational Resource Bank — Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital Base
• Academic platform: Tongji University School of Medicine's Translational Medicine Research Center, Institute of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Institute of Gynecologic Oncology and Women-Infant Health Science Center; the hospital also operates an advanced obstetrics and gynecology specialty simulation training center

Historical Development

• Founded in February 1947 with only an obstetrics specialty, starting from a single old villa with about 40 beds and 46 employees.
• In 1950 it helped build Shanghai's maternal and child health network and popularized modern delivery methods; in 1957 it held a national short-course training class for premature-infant physicians; in 1962 it developed instruments for neonatal intubation, laryngoscopy and positive-pressure oxygen bags for infants of different weights — a culture of innovation running through its history.
• In 1992 it passed China's first national Baby-Friendly Hospital review; in 1995 it was rated a Tertiary (Class A) specialty hospital; in 2006 it became the First Maternity and Infant Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University.
• In 2010 its team established China's first Department of Fetal Medicine.
• A radiation oncology department was established in 2021; the second title was renamed in 2023; and it was named "Shanghai Red Cross First Maternity and Infant Hospital" in 2025.

Expert Team

• Prof. Wang Yu: President of the hospital; chief physician in obstetrics and gynecology, professor and doctoral supervisor; Director of the Gynecologic Oncology Committee of the China Medical Education Association, member of the Gynecologic Oncology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, and vice chair of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Branch of the Shanghai Medical Association. Long engaged in ovarian cancer research and a leading proponent of single-port laparoscopy and single-port da Vinci robotic surgery in China.
• Prof. Wan Xiaoping: Chief physician; specializes in comprehensive treatment of gynecologic malignancies, especially high-precision and complex laparoscopic surgery for gynecologic tumors and gynecologic reconstructive surgery such as congenital absence of the vagina.
• Prof. Duan Tao: Professorship in obstetrics and gynecology at Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital and former president; regarded as a leading figure in Chinese obstetrics. He was the first in China to propose dividing obstetrics into three subspecialties — maternal medicine, fetal medicine and general obstetrics — and led the team in establishing China's first Department of Fetal Medicine.
• Prof. Wang Wei: Chief physician, professor, doctoral supervisor and postdoctoral co-supervisor; postdoctoral fellow at LSU Cancer Center (USA) and clinical visiting scholar at Cleveland Clinic and Florida Hospital.
• Gynecology expert team (based on publicly available outpatient information): Xu Shaohua, Wu Guizhu, Li Bilan, Chen Jinhong, Wu Hong, Li Xiaocui, Shi Xiaofei, Zhang Yongli, Gu Zhengrong and others.

Core Strengths and Technologies

• High-risk obstetrics and delivery: diagnosis and treatment of high-risk pregnancy, development and use of appropriate delivery techniques, prenatal diagnosis, and intrauterine intervention for fetal diseases; the hospital has 10 proprietary intrauterine intervention techniques that can treat certain fetal conditions in utero and reduce birth defects; its painless delivery rate remains above 90%.
• Fetal medicine: China's first Department of Fetal Medicine (established in 2010), providing fetal medicine subspecialty care and intrauterine fetal surgery.
• Minimally invasive gynecology: single-port laparoscopy, da Vinci robotic surgery, and transvaginal hysterectomy, covering benign and malignant gynecologic tumors, ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis and intrauterine diseases.
• Comprehensive gynecologic oncology: standardized, precision comprehensive treatment of ovarian cancer, endometrial cancer and other gynecologic malignancies, with a complete system spanning surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy, as well as fertility-sparing treatment.
• Gynecologic urology and pelvic floor reconstruction: treatment of pelvic organ prolapse and pelvic floor repair and reconstruction.
• Assisted reproduction: approved by the former Ministry of Health in 2006, one of the earliest institutions in Shanghai to perform assisted reproductive technology; offers IVF-ET, ICSI, donor/husband artificial insemination (AID/AIH) and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).
• Neonatal and premature infant care: supported by the Shanghai Critical Neonatal Consultation and Rescue Center.
• Radiation therapy: a radiation oncology department was established in 2021 with medical linear accelerators and brachytherapy equipment, making the hospital the first obstetrics and gynecology specialty hospital in Shanghai to have a complete diagnosis and treatment system of surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy.

Clinical Research and International Impact

• The number of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) grants has led all obstetrics and gynecology disciplines nationwide for six consecutive years; in 2022 the hospital received 32 NSFC projects.
• In November 2022 it launched a "demonstration research ward" project to build a standardized, innovative and intelligent integrated clinical research platform, aiming to form a "Shanghai solution" in obstetrics and gynecology clinical research.
• Leveraging the biomedical industry advantages of Zhangjiang, Shanghai, it cooperates with research institutions and innovative companies to advance new drug clinical research and surgical robotics engineering research.
• It has repeatedly hosted academic conferences such as the First Maternity and Infant Hospital Academic Forum and collaborates with many renowned medical institutions at home and abroad.
• The hospital currently has 73 graduate supervisors, including 43 doctoral supervisors; it offers 14 master's degree authorization points, 9 doctoral degree authorization points and a clinical medicine postdoctoral research station.

Scale and Honors

• Annual deliveries approach 30,000 and have ranked first in Shanghai for nine consecutive years; about one in every five newborns in Shanghai is born here, earning it the nickname of Shanghai's "great cradle." In 2016 deliveries reached 34,000, ranking first nationwide.
• 2019 data: more than 30,000 deliveries, 1.84 million outpatient and emergency visits, 72,000 discharges, and 65,000 inpatient surgeries.
• Obstetrics is a National Key Clinical Specialty and a national maternity-period featured health care base; Gynecology is a Shanghai "top-priority" key clinical discipline.
• A National Civilized Unit and a National Baby-Friendly Hospital; it ranks in the "double top 10" of both the STEM (Obstetrics and Gynecology) ranking and the China Hospital Rankings (specialty composite).

Address and Contact

• East Campus: No. 2699 Gaoke West Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai
• West Campus: No. 536 Changle Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai
• South Campus: No. 391 Yaohua Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai
• Website: https://www.51mch.com/

For a quick overview of the department, see the Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital Obstetrics & Gynecology department page.

Planning a pregnancy, birth or gynecologic procedure in Shanghai? Contact Medora for a free, personalized consultation — we help international families coordinate appointments, interpretation and treatment at Shanghai's leading maternity hospital.