KIGALI — A Chinese medical team working in Rwanda has introduced a childbirth technique combining traditional Chinese medicine with modern obstetric care.
The intervention helped two women deliver safely at Masaka Hospital in Kigali, while easing labor pain without the use of drugs.
The procedure was carried out on March 13 by members of the 26th Chinese medical team stationed in Rwanda, who used a method described as “Doula care plus traditional Chinese medicine analgesia” to assist two patients experiencing prolonged labor.
The mothers — identified as Katere, a 23-year-old first-time mother, and Sana, a 40-year-old woman giving birth to multiple children — had struggled with labor partly because of fear and the limited availability of pain-relief equipment.
Chinese obstetricians, working alongside Rwandan midwives, developed individualized delivery plans designed to help the women relax and manage pain during labor.
The approach combined breathing techniques, guided movement using a labor ball, music-based relaxation and psychological support.
At the same time, doctors from the team’s traditional Chinese medicine department applied mild electrical stimulation to specific acupuncture points, including Hegu and Sanyinjiao, using electrode patches.
The method is intended to relieve pain during labor without pharmaceutical anesthesia.
Both women delivered naturally and safely.
“This technology is both professional and human-centered,” said Dr. Ansere, an obstetrician at Masaka Hospital who assisted in the deliveries, adding that local medical staff were interested in learning how the approach could be incorporated into routine maternity care.
According to Han Hongyang, the Full-time Captain (leader) of the Chinese medical team, many women in Rwanda experience significant pain during labor because epidural or other advanced analgesic equipment is not always available in public hospitals.
He said the integrated method combining traditional Chinese medicine with Western obstetrics is non-invasive, safe and relatively easy to introduce in resource-limited settings.
China has provided medical assistance to Rwanda for decades. Since 1982, Beijing has dispatched 26 batches of medical teams to the country, according to Chinese officials.
The current group includes 19 specialists working across eight clinical fields — including surgery, orthopedics, anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, nursing, internal medicine, dentistry and traditional Chinese medicine — supporting Rwandan hospitals and sharing clinical expertise with local staff.
