Ambulances are parked at Hanyang University Medical Center in Seoul in this file photo. Hankook Ilbo file
A pregnant woman in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, who went into labor and needed immediate medical attention was turned away by more than 40 hospitals before giving birth inside an ambulance.
A report was made to 119 at 12:42 a.m. on March 10 that a woman in her 20s, who was 34 weeks pregnant, had gone into labor in Danwon District, Ansan, the Korean Emergency Firefighters Union said Tuesday.
Emergency responders quickly assessed her condition as critical and immediately contacted obstetrics and gynecology departments at hospitals in Seoul, Gyeonggi and South Chungcheong provinces. However, they were repeatedly told that treatment was unavailable. Hospitals reportedly cited reasons such as "obstetric care is unavailable at night" and "no staff is available to handle the case."
Emergency responders desperately called more than 40 hospitals for over an hour. At 1:48 a.m., the 119 control center secured a bed at Seoul Medical Center in Jungnang District, Seoul. The ambulance immediately headed there, but the woman's condition deteriorated as she suffered intense labor pains. As a result, emergency responders were forced to perform an emergency delivery. The woman gave birth to a baby boy at 2:11 a.m., approximately an hour and 30 minutes after the initial call.
Both the mother and newborn were admitted to Seoul Medical Center at 2:36 a.m. for follow-up care. Reports indicate that both are in stable condition.
"While searching for a hospital to accept the emergency patient, her condition worsened, leading responders to conduct an emergency delivery," said Kim Gil-jung, head of the Korean Emergency Firefighters Union. "To protect the golden time for emergency patients, institutional reforms such as allowing firefighters to determine hospital admissions must be implemented."
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.