Ten Hospitals Selected for 'Childbirth Function Enhancement Project' to Provide 24-Hour Maternal and Neonatal Care

Strengthening Childbirth and High-Risk Neonatal Care at 10 Regional Maternal and Child Medical Centers
Jeju National University Hospital Newly Designated as a Regional Maternal and Child Medical Center

On August 26, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that it has designated ten hospitals, including St. Vincent's Hospital at the Catholic University of Korea, as regional maternal and child medical centers. This initiative aims to strengthen local capacity to handle childbirth and to take a leading role in integrated treatment for mothers and newborns.

Until now, regional maternal and child medical centers have mainly functioned as “regional neonatal intensive care centers,” focusing on the treatment of high-risk newborns such as premature and low birth weight infants. However, starting this year, the maternal and child healthcare delivery system has been reorganized to allow treatment based on severity, thereby expanding the centers’ roles.

Accordingly, the government has launched the “Childbirth Function Enhancement Project” to provide intensive support for strengthening the obstetric capabilities of these centers. This will allow them to function properly as “maternal and child” medical centers, not only by treating high-risk newborns but also by providing care and delivery services for pregnant women. Each selected institution will receive 150 million won for the remainder of this year, and from next year, each will be supported with 450 million won annually.

With this funding, the institutions must operate on-call specialists to ensure 24-hour delivery and neonatal care, and they will play a central role in treating mothers and high-risk newborns within their regions. This is expected to establish a system where pregnant women can safely give birth at any time, even at night, at their local maternal and child medical center, and where mothers and babies can receive treatment in one place when needed.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Ministry designated Jeju National University Hospital as a new regional maternal and child medical center. Until now, the Jeju region did not have such a center, but going forward, Jeju National University Hospital will provide a safer environment for high-risk pregnant women and newborns to receive care and deliver babies.

Upon being designated as a regional maternal and child medical center, the hospital will receive a budget of 1 billion won for facilities and equipment in the first year, and from the following year, 600 million won in annual operating expenses. Based on this support, the hospital will strengthen its high-risk care infrastructure, including expanding the Maternal-Fetal Intensive Care Unit (MFICU), and will serve as the final referral institution in Jeju to ensure timely and smooth emergency and high-risk deliveries.

Jung Tongryeong, Director of Public Health Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, “By providing additional funding to ten regional maternal and child medical centers and designating a regional center in Jeju, we expect to further strengthen local capacity to respond to childbirth. We will continue to devise various measures to ensure that high-risk mothers and newborns receive the necessary medical services in a timely manner and can give birth with peace of mind in their own communities.”

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