Objective  To analyze current status and requirement of bedspace and professional staff for obstetric service under the two-child policy and to provide evidences for making relevant public strategy.

  Methods  We surveyed basic situations of 1 902 eligible obstetrics service institutions in Guangdong with a questionnaire in 2015 and extracted data on the number of live birth (NLBH) in hospitals in Guangdong province from routine monthly reports from 2014 through 2016.

  Results  During the 3-year period, the NLBH in all the institutions increased monthly from February to November in a year and the trend was much more obvious in the later half year of 2016. Of all the institutions surveyed, 55.58 %, 34.70 %, and 9.73 % were categorized into primary, secondary, and tertiary obstetrics institution and the NLBH in the institutions of the three grades accounted for 15.68 %, 49.92 %, and 34.41 % of the total NLBH in the period. For all the institutions, the median hospitalization duration for vaginal delivery and cesarean section were 2.85 and 6.00 days; the ratio of bedspace vs. number of deliveries was 1 : 24.83; the ratio of number of obstetricians vs. number of deliveries was 1 : 90.00; the ratio of number of nurses vs. number of deliveries was 1 : 70.00; the ratio of number of obstetricians vs. bedspace was 1 : 3.50; the ratio of number of nurses vs. bedspace 1 : 2.62; and the ratio of number of obstetricians vs. number of nurses was 1 : 1.17.These indicators for various obstetrics institutions differed significantly by the institutions’ type, category and regional location (P < 0.01 for all).

  Conclusion  The stress of obstetrics service due to the increase in birth numbers is of great discrepancy for obstetrics service institutions of different type, category and region allocation. Balanced structure adjustment and inherent quality improvement should be concerned in capability building of obstetrics service institutions and the expansion of institutions for obstetrics service should be based on local conditions.