I. Personnel Composition
The Department of Obstetrics comprises a total of 219 staff members, including 53 physicians, 98 nurses, and 14 technicians. The department boasts a distinguished faculty with 4 doctoral supervisors and 9 master supervisors. Among them, there is 1 chairperson of the Perinatal Medicine Branch, Chongqing Medical Association, 1 recipient of the Chongqing Hundred Thousand Project Leading Talent, 3 Chongqing Young and Middle-aged High-Level Medical Reserve Talents. Additionally, the department is privileged to have 2 overseas experts, and 2 Overseas High-Level Talents.
II. Department Overview
Proud to have been born at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (FAH-CQMU). The Obstetric department has earned national recognition as a National Clinical Key Specialty and the Innovation and Talent Recruitment Base of Maternal-Fetal Medicine. The Obstetric department is also designated as a National Specialty of Maternal and Perinatal Healthcare and holds membership in the Expert Committee of the National Obstetrics Quality Control Center. Further distinctions include its status as a Collaborative Unit for the National Birth Defect Prevention and Treatment Talent Training Base, a National Maternal and Infant Safety Quality Service Unit, and the Chongqing Branch of the National Clinical Research Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology Diseases. Moreover, the department has been appointed as a National Thalassemia Prevention and Control Pilot Unit by the National Health Commission, High-Throughput Gene Sequencing Prenatal Screening and Diagnosis Clinical Application Pilot Unit by the National Health Commission. At the regional level, it is designated as the Chongqing High-Risk Pregnancy Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Chongqing Center for Healthcare Quality Management in Prenatal Screening and Diagnosis, and Chongqing Fetal Medicine Center. Further cementing its academic prominence, the department houses the Joint International Research Laboratory of Reproduction and Development, the Ministry of Education, Chongqing Key Laboratory of Maternal-Fetal Medicine. It has been approved a Program for Innovation Team Building at Institutions of Higher Education in Chongqing, Chongqing Nursing Training Base for Obstetric Emergency, and Chongqing Midwifery Skills Training Base. Additionally, it serves as a Chongqing Midwife Standardized Specialized Nurse Training Base and hosts a Demonstration Ward for Quality Nursing Services, National Health Commission. Furthermore, it operates as a Specialized Midwife Clinical Training Base of Chinese Maternal and Child Health Association, and as the Chongqing Center of Southwest Maternity Education, Chinese Maternal and Child Health Association.
III. Milestones
Over its more than 60 years of pioneering advancements, the department has achieved numerous milestones in maternal-fetal healthcare. In 2002, it was officially designated by the Chongqing Municipal Health Bureau as the Chongqing High-Risk Pregnancy Diagnosis and Treatment Center. In 2006, the Chongqing Prenatal Diagnosis Center for Birth Defects was established. In 2010, Building upon this foundation, the “Chongqing Fetal Medicine Center” was successfully formed. In 2011, the department achieved the distinction of being among the first to be recognized as a “National Clinical Key Specialties” and was approved to establish the Chongqing Nursing Training Base for Obstetric Emergency. By 2014, it was further recognized by the National Health Commission as the “Chongqing Fetal Medicine Center”. The department’s commitment to innovation was acknowledged in 2016 when the Chongqing Municipal Education Commission designated it as a Innovation Team Building at Institutions of Higher Education in Chongqing. In the same year, it was approved by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs as The Innovation and Talent Recruitment Base of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, commonly referred to as the “111 Program”. In 2017, the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Laboratory at Chongqing Medical University was officially designated as a Chongqing Key Laboratory. Subsequent achievements include its recognition as a National Specialty of Maternal and Perinatal Healthcare in 2019 and in 2020, its designation as both the Chongqing Center for Healthcare Quality Management in Prenatal Screening and Diagnosis and the Chongqing Branch of the National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric and Gynecological Diseases. Further expanding its influence, the department was accredited as a Specialized Midwife Clinical Training Base by the Chinese Maternal and Child Health Association in 2021. Most recently, in 2023, it was appointed as the Chongqing Center of Southwest Maternity Education, under the same association.
IV. Technical Expertise
The department steadfastly upholds a patient-centered philosophy, continuously refining its management strategies and integrating cutting-edge technologies to ensure optimal maternal and fetal safety. The department is structured into four specialized divisions: Maternal Medicine, General Obstetrics, Fetal Medicine, and Postpartum Rehabilitation. A diverse range of specialty outpatient clinics have been established to address specific pregnancy-related conditions, including advanced maternal age, multiple pregnancies, placenta previa, gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and postpartum rehabilitation. Additionally, the department provides 24-hour obstetric ultrasound services and has instituted a seamless “green channel” that integrates outpatient services, ultrasound diagnostics, and inpatient care. In collaboration with the Mental Health Center, Department of Radiology, and Children’s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (CH-CQMU), the department also offers genetic counseling clinics, psychological sleep clinics, and fetal anomaly MDT clinics. Additionally, it has pioneered several advanced interventions for high-risk pregnancies, including abdominal aortic balloon occlusion, uterine artery embolization, placenta implantation scoring, and High-intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) therapy for retained placenta. These innovations provide comprehensive solutions for complex maternal conditions, significantly enhancing maternal and childbirth safety.
The department has always taken the mission of treating high-risk pregnancies as its primary responsibility, striving to safeguard the final line of defense for pregnancy safety. Leveraging the robust clinical capabilities of First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University and the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical Univerity (CH-CQMU), the department collaborates closely with the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU), and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Together, they form a Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) for perinatal critical care, ensuring the safety of both mothers and children. The department is at the forefront in treating and rescuing critical conditions such as placenta previa, placenta accreta, postpartum hemorrhage, amniotic fluid embolism, gestational heart disease, preeclampsia, acute fatty liver of pregnancy, twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, and complex multiple pregnancies.
The Fetal Medicine Subspecialty Group, in collaboration with the Department of Obstetric Ultrasound, Obstetric Prenatal Diagnosis Laboratory, Department of Radiology (fetal MRI technology), and the Children's Hospital of (CH-CQMU), has established a robust prenatal diagnosis team, which also forms the core of the Chongqing Fetal Medicine Center. The team not only handles the majority of amniocentesis, cord blood sampling, and chorionic villus sampling in Southwest China, but also conducts advanced fetal interventions, including fetoscopic examinations, laser coagulation of placental vascular anastomoses under fetal endoscopy, radiofrequency ablation for selective reduction, intrauterine fetal blood transfusions, amniotic band release, amniotic fluid reduction, amniotic fluid infusion, and fetal peritoneal effusion aspiration. These procedures exemplify the department’s commitment to the philosophy of “the fetus is also a human being and a fetus with illness is also a patient”. The Obstetric Ultrasound Team conducts high-level prenatal ultrasound examinations, including Nuchal Translucency (NT) screening for twins (and multiple pregnancies), systematic ultrasound assessments for twins, fetal echocardiography, and targeted ultrasound scans. Their cutting-edge research has been presented at prestigious World Congress on Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, receiving widespread recognition both domestically and internationally. Meanwhile, the Obstetric Prenatal Diagnosis Laboratory leverages the latest Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) technology to conduct advanced genetic testing, including deafness gene screening, thalassemia screening, expanded carrier screening for monogenic inherited disorders, and chromosome karyotype analysis. These state-of-the-art diagnostic capabilities provide a robust foundation for fetal medicine and prenatal diagnosis, ensuring early detection and precise intervention for fetal conditions.
The Postpartum Rehabilitation Subspecialty Group provides individualized rehabilitation programs for women experiencing pelvic floor dysfunction, integrating the expertise of obstetricians, rehabilitation specialists, and WAFF exercise therapists. The department introduced the first Postpartum WAFF Exercise Rehabilitation Course in Chongqing and employs a holistic rehabilitation approach, incorporating postural assessments, electrical stimulation therapy, magnetic stimulation, vascular smooth muscle therapy, behavioral rehabilitation, scar reduction, stretch mark removal, and lactation management.
After 60 years of dedicated effort, the department now stands as a comprehensive maternal health center, seamlessly integrating “pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, and postpartum care”, as well as a high-risk pregnancy treatment hub and the Chongqing Fetal Medicine Center.
V. Research Achievements
In the past five years, the department has published 156 SCI-indexed papers, with a cumulative impact factor of 609. Over the same period, it has been approved for 42 national-level research grants, receiving 29.53 million yuan in funding, ranking among the top obstetrics departments nationwide. The department has led 4 sub-projects under the Ministry of Science and Technology’s key R&D plan, 1 joint project under the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), 1 international cooperation project (NSFC), 15 general projects (NSFC),, and 21 youth fund projects (NSFC),. It has been awarded 2 national invention patents and 26 utility model patents, ranking among the top in the hospital. The department has published over 20 monographs, including the 9th edition of the nationally standardized 5-year system textbook Obstetrics and Gynecology, the 4th edition of the 8-year system textbook Obstetrics and Gynecology, the graduate-level textbook Obstetrics and Gynecology, the National Health Commission’s standardized training textbook for residents Obstetrics and Gynecology, the 3rd-4th editions of the Obstetrics and Gynecology textbooks for higher education, and the 3rd edition of the 8-year system textbook Obstetrics and Gynecology. The department also co-edited books such as Difficult Labor and Midwifery. In 2019, the department’s project on “Exploration of Pregnancy Management Strategies for Metabolism-Related Diseases During Gestation” was awarded the First Prize for Technological Progress of Chongqing Science and Technology Awards.
As a National Clinical Key Specialty, the department is not only a pillar of excellence in Chongqing’s obstetrics field but also a testament to its entry into the national elite. With its “regionally leading and nationally first-class” capabilities, the department has risen to become the premier “Regional Obstetrics Medical Center” in the upper Yangtze River region. It has propelled the research and clinical management of major pregnancy-related diseases to the forefront of national excellence and the cutting edge of international advancements. Through its pioneering efforts, the department has made significant contributions to improving maternal healthcare, advancing perinatal medicine, and reducing maternal mortality in China, reinforcing its role as a key driver of progress in obstetric medicine.