A pregnancy program set up for families who lost children in the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 has helped women give birth to more than 2,900 healthy babies in southwest China's Sichuan Province over the last three years.

Li Bin, director of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, said Tuesday at a symposium that some 4,000 families who were able and willing to give another birth after their losses in the quake had participated in the program.

According to Li, the program organized local medical workers and experts from six provinces to provide medical consultations and services for participants from the prenatal period to labor.

An 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan on May 12, 2008, leaving 87,000 people dead or missing.

Li noted the results were hard-earned as most of the women taking part in the program were between 35 to 40 years old.

According to Li, two months after the devastating quake, the commission launched the pregnancy assistance program in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, with 100 million yuan (15.4 million U.S. dollars) from the central government and 29 million from the Sichuan provincial government.

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