Vietnamese woman gives birth in ambulance in South Korea after 13 hospitals refused to accept her

A Vietnamese woman gave birth in an ambulance because many hospitals refused to accept her due to overload - Photo: DONGA ILBO

According to Chosun newspaper, the Incheon City Fire Department confirmed that at around 12:20 pm on March 16, the agency received a report that Ms. A, a 31-year-old Vietnamese woman, had collapsed in the departure lounge area on the 3rd floor, Terminal 1, Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, South Korea .

Giving birth in an ambulance in a hospital parking lot

After receiving the report, the Incheon Fire Department's emergency team immediately went to the scene and checked the woman's health. Initial examination showed that she was Vietnamese , had naturalized in Korea, and was pregnant.

Confirming that Ms. A was in labor but delivering the baby at the medical center at Incheon airport was extremely difficult, the fire department quickly found an ambulance to promptly take her to a nearby hospital to give birth.

After a period of searching, the fire brigade discovered that Inha University Hospital, about 31km from Incheon Airport, had an obstetrics department and was able to assist Ms. A in giving birth.

At around 1:18 p.m. the same day, after receiving the news that Ms. A had been in labor for nearly an hour, the fire department discovered that Ms. A was about to give birth, so they quickly contacted Inha University Hospital and received the answer "we cannot admit the pregnant woman because there is no obstetrician who can deliver the baby."

After that, the fire department and emergency personnel contacted 12 other hospitals in Gyeonggi Province and Seoul, but were all refused on the grounds that "they could not provide treatment", "there were no hospital beds", "it was a difficult case for the mother to give birth for the first time", and "there were no obstetricians ".

At about 13:51, the ambulance carrying Ms. A arrived.   parking lot of Inha University Hospital , but was forced to continue searching for another hospital to give birth.

However, all efforts were in vain, Ms. A gave birth to a baby boy right in the ambulance at 2:33 p.m., more than 2 hours after the emergency call.

After giving birth, Ms. A and her baby boy were admitted to Inha University Hospital.

Explaining why Ms. A could not give birth at the medical center at Incheon Airport and had to spend more than 2 hours looking for a hospital, an official from Inha University Hospital said that the airport medical center can only handle simple cases such as suturing open wounds, and cannot deal with complications that may arise during childbirth.

Last year, South Korea recorded many cases of mothers having to give birth in ambulances or dying because many hospitals refused to accept them due to lack of doctors and beds.

Need to promote the construction of hospitals near airports

Also according to Chosun , in some other countries around the world , emergency rooms of general hospitals are often located near airports to be able to respond promptly to emergency patients.

For example, only about 6km from John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York, USA) is Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, about 5km from Heathrow Airport (London, UK) is Hillingdon Hospital, or 3-5km from Narita International Airport (Japan), Changi Airport (Singapore) are also general hospitals.

However, general hospitals near Incheon Airport, especially St. Mary's International Hospital of Catholic University of Kwandong and Inha University Hospital, are up to 30km from the airport.

Recently, Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker Heo Jong Sik proposed a law amendment to allow Incheon International Airport Corporation to use dividends received from the government to build a general hospital to be able to respond promptly to emergencies.

After the Korean media reported on the incident of a Vietnamese woman giving birth in an ambulance, an official at Incheon Airport said they will consider ways to respond more quickly to emergencies at the airport.

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UYEN PHUONG

Source: https://archive.vietnam.vn/san-phu-nguoi-viet-sinh-con-tren-xe-ambulance-o-han-quoc-do-13-benh-vien-tu-choi-tiep-nhan/