A second baby to the family..

In Shandong province, 60 percent of the newborns in the first 11 months of 2016 were second children.

"The policy allows this now... also I want a companion for my kid. It's good when two kids can keep each other company."

On Sunday, China's health and family planning commission said 17.86  million babies were born in the year 2016.  That's 11.5 percent more than in 2015.

Among the newborns, 45% are the second child in their family.

Also, the mini baby boom was against the backdrop of the number of women able to have children declining by 5 million.

Ms. Wang is 41 years old this year. After some discussions in the family, they decided to have a second child.

"I was afraid that the baby wouldn't be healthy. I've thought about it a lot, but my courage helped me to overcome it all."

"There are a lot of occurrences of complications during pregnancy among the older age group. The rate of birth deformities will rise if the average childbearing age increases by even two years." said Chen Zijiang, reproduction expert.

Also in the minds of many Chinese families, the concern is if they can afford to raise another kid. And if their own parents are healthy enough to take care of another grandchild, which is common practice in China, when both parents have to work.

Also, a number of them being only children themselves, are the parents prepared to educate two kids?

"For the first born, you have to make sure the child doesn't complain, while at the same time, you also try to give the second born that complete love. It's a growing process for the parents." said Li li, a pediatrician at No.6 hoslital of Peking University.