The Korea Times
A 36-year-old woman who was 20 weeks pregnant was turned away by 16 medical institutions in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province before being admitted to a hospital in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, about three hours later. The case adds to a growing list of incidents in which pregnant women have remained stranded in ambulances after hospitals refused to accept them. It also highlights the lack of obstetric care infrastructure in regional South Korea, with the most recent such case resulting in the death of one twin and brain damage to the other. According to the Daegu Fire and Disaster Headquarters, a call came in at 2 a.m. on March 25 reporting that the woman, who was staying at her in-laws’ home in Dong District, Daegu, was suffering from abdominal pain. Emergency responders asked the Emergency Medical Control Center to arrange hospital transport, but 16 maternity units at hospitals in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province refused to accept her, citing reasons including full beds, the absence of an on-call obstetrician, or doctors already tied up in emergency procedures. The control
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