Pregnant Vietnamese woman's water broke, had to give birth in ambulance

The above information was reported by the Korea Times newspaper from the Incheon Fire Department on March 17. The pregnant woman was identified as Ms. A, and it is still unclear whether she is a tourist or a permanent resident in Korea.

The Incheon Fire Department received information that a 31-year-old woman fainted at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport at 12:20 p.m. on March 16 (local time).

Airport medical staff diagnosed Ms. A with labor pains and could not treat her on the spot but needed to be taken to the hospital quickly.

The pregnant woman was transferred to Inha University Hospital in Incheon, but the hospital refused to treat her, citing a "lack of obstetricians."

An ambulance in front of a hospital in South Korea. Photo: Korea Times

The emergency team then contacted 12 other hospitals in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas, but all of them refused for various reasons such as "unable to accept pregnant women for the first examination", "no more beds", "no doctors".

Many hospitals also asked the rescue team how many weeks pregnant Ms. A was, but due to language barriers, they were not clear, causing them to refuse to admit her to the hospital.

After more than 2 hours of not being able to find a place to receive her, Ms. A's water broke, forcing medical staff to perform an emergency delivery in an ambulance at 2:33 p.m.

Ms. A gave birth to a son, and the mother and son were then taken to Inha University Hospital. Korean media reported that the condition of Ms. A and her son is currently stable.

A similar incident occurred in August 2024 when a pregnant Korean woman was forced to give birth in an ambulance after being rejected by four hospitals due to a lack of doctors.

South Korea's health care system is in crisis as thousands of doctors have been on strike since February last year to protest the government 's proposal to increase medical school admission quotas.

The strike has led to a rise in the number of ambulances being turned away from hospitals in South Korea. During the Lunar New Year holiday this year, 104 ambulances were turned away, more than the total number of cases rejected during the same period two years ago.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/han-quoc-thai-phu-nguoi-viet-vo-oi-phai-sinh-con-tren-xe-cuu-thuong-196250317165558298.htm