To prevent 'delivery뺑뺑이', government to establish system for transferring mothers & newborns from June

In response to a deeply distressing incident where a pregnant woman in Cheongju had to be transported to Busan for emergency delivery, ultimately losing her fetus due to a lack of available medical facilities, the South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare is taking decisive action. The ministry announced plans to establish a real-time information system by June. This system is designed to rapidly identify and assign hospitals for the transfer of pregnant women and newborns in critical condition, aiming to prevent such tragedies from recurring.

The new system will bolster the capabilities of the National Central Medical Center's Central Maternal and Neonatal Medical Center. Currently, this center collects information on neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beds and specialists from 69 institutions nationwide, but updates are only provided twice daily. The enhanced system will allow for more frequent updates, ensuring that real-time information on bed availability and specialist presence is accessible, thereby facilitating quicker and more appropriate medical transfers.

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We will promptly prepare improvement measures so that such incidents do not recur and pregnant women can deliver with peace of mind.

Beyond the information system, the Ministry of Health and Welfare is also reassessing and reinforcing the operational status of 24-hour delivery services at critical, regional, and local maternal and neonatal medical centers. Efforts will focus on securing an adequate number of specialists for emergency response and improving compensation to encourage medical professionals to remain in these essential fields. Furthermore, the government is committed to improving the medical malpractice safety net for essential medical practitioners, aiming to alleviate their burden and allow them to focus on patient care.

Minister of Health and Welfare, Chung Ho-young, has pledged to thoroughly review the identified issues and implement swift improvements to ensure pregnant women can deliver with peace of mind. From a South Korean perspective, this initiative addresses a critical gap in the healthcare system, particularly concerning the accessibility and responsiveness of emergency obstetric and neonatal care. The incident has highlighted the urgent need for better coordination and real-time data sharing, and the government's proactive response, as reported by the Hankyoreh, aims to restore public confidence in the nation's maternal healthcare services.

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In the future, the frequency of uploading the hospital's changed situation will increase, and although information on mothers and newborns was previously transmitted to the transfer hospital via phone, it will be transmitted more quickly once the real-time system is in place.