As of next year, having a child in China will be less of a pain – literally.

China's National Health Commission announced on Tuesday that it would be implementing a pilot program to increase the rate of spinal or epidural anesthesia injections for childbirth, which will be implemented in 2019. The pilot plan aims to raise the rate of epidurals given for natural birth to 40% and further reduce the rate of Cesarean sections.

Presently, the epidural rate in China is under 10%, compared with 80% in the United States, due to a shortage of anesthesiologists and low incentives for hospitals to provide the procedure, which is low in price but requires many hours of supervision. The pilot program will train anesthesiologists, obstetricians and midwives and encourage hospitals to education expecting parents on the use of epidurals or spinal injections for natural births.

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