South Korea’s High-Risk Maternity Beds Vanish, Forcing Long-Distance Emergency Transfers

 
A woman in Cheongju, North Chungcheong province, who was 29 weeks pregnant was transferred to Busan after failing to find a hospital able to perform an emergency delivery, and the fetus died. Several hospitals in the Chungcheong region could not accept her, citing a lack of specialists and insufficient beds. She ultimately had to travel more than 300 kilometers by helicopter. By the time surgery began, it was already too late. Another high-risk pregnant woman in Sejong was also reported to have been moved to Busan the same day. Long-distance “medical trips” for childbirth have become a reality.

The case is not an isolated incident. In February, a woman in Daegu who showed signs of preterm labor at 28 weeks of pregnancy was turned away by seven major hospitals in the area before being transferred to a hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi province. One of her twins died and the other suffered brain damage. Last year in Eumseong, North Chungcheong province, a woman in labor gave birth in an ambulance after she could not find a hospital. The locations differ, but the pattern repeats: mothers cannot secure care in time, fetuses miss the critical window, and families are left with lasting trauma.

Three factors are driving the breakdown. First is an absolute shortage of infrastructure. According to data from the National Medical Center, as of 2023, eight of the nation’s 17 provinces and major cities had utilization rates for high-risk maternity treatment rooms below the national average. Sejong was the lowest at 44.35%, and North Gyeongsang, South Jeolla, North Chungcheong and South Chungcheong were also near the bottom. That suggests many patients likely could not receive treatment where they live and had to seek care elsewhere. Utilization rates for neonatal intensive care units were also below average in many regions.

Second is a collapse in medical staffing. The number of obstetricians and gynecologists per 100,000 people is below the national average in several areas, including North Gyeongsang at 7.6, Sejong at 8.7, and North Chungcheong, South Chungcheong and South Gyeongsang at 8.8. Beds mean little without doctors, and even where doctors are available, beds cannot function if overnight and emergency on-call coverage cannot be maintained. Critics say some regional university hospitals are holding on with only one obstetrics specialist.

Third is a distorted compensation system and heavy legal risk. Deliveries require 24-hour emergency readiness and can turn unpredictable quickly, but fees are low and the burden of medical-dispute litigation is high. That is a key reason younger doctors avoid obstetrics, especially delivery work. The current gaps reflect what happens when essential care is left to market forces alone.
 
The problem is that while large budgets are being spent to raise the birthrate, the country is failing to protect the hospitals needed to deliver babies. Even if the government increases birth incentives and rolls out support programs, policies ring hollow if emergency delivery systems are breaking down. Childbirth is often most dangerous at the moment of delivery; if the state is absent then, families will not feel safe choosing to have children.
 
High-risk maternity intensive care units and neonatal intensive care units need major expansion by region. Public support and fee normalization are also urgent for staffing in obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and anesthesiology. A nationwide real-time bed-sharing system should be built so emergency responders and hospitals can connect immediately. Legal protections for medical staff handling high-risk deliveries also need to be strengthened.
 
Childbirth should be a blessing, not a survival test. If a country requires pregnant women to fly hundreds of kilometers by helicopter to give birth, the health care system has failed before any low-birthrate policy can succeed. One bed, one specialist, can decide whether a life is saved. The government and the National Assembly should act before the stigma of becoming a nation of long-distance childbirth becomes permanent.