Rejected By 40 Hospitals, This Woman Gives Birth Prematurely In Ambulance

Illustration of ambulances in South Korea. (Wikimedia Commons/hyolee2)

JAKARTA - A pregnant woman in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, who was about to give birth and needed medical attention was immediately rejected by more than 40 hospitals, before giving birth in an ambulance.

A report was made to 119 in the early hours of 12:42 a.m. on March 10, a woman in her 20s, 34 weeks pregnant, gave birth in Danwon District, Ansan, the Korean Emergency Fire Department said on Tuesday, quoted from The Korea Times March 19.

Emergency response officers quickly assessed his condition as critical and immediately contacted the department of obstetrics and gynecology at hospitals in the provinces of Seoul, Gyeonggi, and South Chungcheong.

However, they were repeatedly told the treatment was not available. Hospitals reportedly cited reasons such as "obscenity care is not available at night" and "no staff is available to handle the case."

Citing the WHO website, babies born before 37 weeks of pregnancy are premature births. WHO data in 2020 shows that 13.4 million babies are included in premature births.

Emergency response officers desperately contacted more than 40 hospitals for more than an hour. At 01.48 in the morning, control center 119 secured beds at the Seoul Medical Center in Jungnang District, Seoul.

The ambulance immediately went there, but the woman's condition worsened because she felt great childbirth. As a result, emergency response officers were forced to make an emergency delivery. The woman gave birth to a baby boy at 02.11 in the morning, about an hour 30 minutes after the initial call.

Both mothers and newborns are being treated at the Seoul Medical Center at 02.36 a.m. for further treatment. Reports show that both are in stable condition.

"While looking for a hospital to accept emergency patients, his condition worsened, so emergency response officers carried out an emergency delivery," said Kim Gil-jung, head of the Korean Emergency Fire Department.

"To protect the golden time for emergency patients, institutional reforms such as allowing firefighters determines patient admissions at hospitals must be implemented," he suggested.