"I Was Kicked Out of a Postpartum Care Center for Complaining About Newborn 'Self-Feeding'"

Requesting CCTV Footage Met with "No Such Incident" Claim
Health Center Reported Confirms It as True

Amid revelations that a postpartum care center in Busan allowed newborns to feed themselves by leaving bottles in their mouths, it has also been reported that the center provided mothers with expired food.

Self-feeding is an act prohibited by law as formula milk can flow into a newborn's airway, causing suffocation and potentially leading to infant death.

A man in his 30s, who introduced himself as a father, posted on an online community on the 7th that he was "kicked out of the postpartum care center after protesting against self-feeding."

Self-feeding with formula can cause the formula to enter the newborn's airway, leading to choking and potentially resulting in the newborn's death, which is why it is prohibited by law. The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. [Photo by Pixabay]

Mr. A stated, "The staff at the care center who allowed newborns to hold bottles by themselves claim they do not know who the affected children are, and the district office also ruled 'no charges' because the victims could not be identified," adding, "It is clearly child abuse, but they say they cannot punish it, which is completely incomprehensible." He shared this story along with the district office's inspection report.

After his wife gave birth to their first child in early March last year and entered the postpartum care center, she witnessed self-feeding and requested to view the CCTV footage, but the center responded, "There is absolutely no self-feeding," and refused to show the CCTV.

Additionally, when mothers frequently suffered from diarrhea and suspected that expired food was being served, they protested to the center. The center suddenly announced that "the director and all staff have resigned" and told them to leave, according to Mr. A.

As a result, mothers who still had remaining contract periods were actually expelled from the center, but the center continued to operate openly even days later.

Eventually, Mr. A and his wife, recalling the time they witnessed self-feeding, requested an unannounced inspection from the health center. Upon reviewing the center’s CCTV, the health center confirmed that self-feeding had indeed occurred.

According to the health center’s inspection report disclosed by Mr. A, it states, "On February 25, 2022, around 7 p.m., video footage confirmed that a health care worker in the newborn room fed an infant who was holding the bottle by themselves."

The postpartum care center could not identify which newborn was affected because the perpetrators changed the designated locations of the newborns. The district office ultimately made a 'no charges' decision based on this reason.
[Photo by Online Community]

It was also revealed that expired food was given to mothers, which is a violation of the Food Sanitation Act. The health center imposed a fine on the care center.

Based on this, Mr. A filed a criminal complaint, and the perpetrator who allowed self-feeding of Mr. A’s child confessed, with child abuse being recognized.

The problem is that there were more newborns subjected to self-feeding besides Mr. A’s child. According to Mr. A, internal CCTV footage obtained during the police investigation confirmed eight cases of self-feeding, and three additional perpetrators were identified.

However, since the perpetrators changed the designated positions of the newborns, it was impossible to identify which infants were harmed. The district office ultimately ruled 'no charges' for this reason.

Finally, Mr. A explained the background of his post, saying, "Self-feeding is child abuse defined by law, and although the evidence and perpetrators are clear, I cannot understand how 'no charges' can be ruled because the victims cannot be identified."

Meanwhile, the Maternal and Child Health Act Enforcement Decree, revised in early 2020, strictly prohibits self-feeding. Violators face fines of up to 2 million won. In November last year, a court recognized self-feeding as child abuse and sentenced an obstetrics and gynecology director and a nursing assistant who caused the problem to fines.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.