Number of high-risk pregnancies grows due to lack of specialists, rising age of expectant mothers
Published: 06 May. 2026, 05:01
![A pregnant woman attends a public event to celebrate a day for expectant mothers in western Seoul on Oct. 10, 2025. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/05/06/9d145c11-dcb4-4f1a-85d8-9e58ed7e40ac.jpg)
A pregnant woman attends a public event to celebrate a day for expectant mothers in western Seoul on Oct. 10, 2025. [NEWS1]
Expectant mothers in Korea, especially in areas outside of Seoul, are increasingly unable to find hospitals to deliver their children, putting both maternal and fetal safety at risk as high-risk pregnancies continue to rise.
Earlier this month, a woman in labor was airlifted from Cheongju, North Chungcheong, to Busan for an emergency delivery, but her pregnancy could not be saved, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Fire Agency on Tuesday. At the time, Cheongju’s Chungbuk National University Hospital — a designated regional maternal and neonatal care center — reportedly had only one obstetric specialist on duty, which limited its ability to respond during nights and holidays.
In February, a woman from Daegu carrying twins went into preterm labor — defined as before 37 weeks of gestation — and spent four hours trying to find a hospital. She was eventually transferred to a hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, but one baby died, and the other was left with brain damage.
Local hospitals that have declined to admit pregnant patients have cited a lack of specialists for their inability to provide care.
The growing number of high-risk pregnancies is another major factor behind the rise in complicated deliveries.
The average age of women giving birth rose from 32.2 in 2015 to 33.8 last year, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The share of those aged 35 or older rose by 13.4 percentage points, from 23.9 percent to 37.3 percent, over the same period.
As the rise in the average age of women giving birth coincides with the growing use of assisted reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization, or IVF, multiple births comprised 5.7 percent of all births in 2024, which translated into a rise in high-risk deliveries.
The preterm birthrate has also climbed annually, reaching 10.2 percent in 2024.
![A nurse takes care of newborn babies at a hospital in Gyeonggi on April 22. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/05/06/7dcea507-9b45-41a8-b37b-156b5fd9c6c3.jpg)
A nurse takes care of newborn babies at a hospital in Gyeonggi on April 22. [NEWS1]
However, statistics show the supply of specialists falls short of demand.
The number of obstetric specialists fell by more than half over the two decades from 259 in 2004 to 103 in 2023, according to the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The shortage is evident among aspiring obstetric specialists. Last year, 345 doctors were in training to earn a special license in obstetrics and gynecology, filling 41 percent of available slots. Of them, 264, or 76.5 percent, were working in the greater Seoul area.
Conditions are even more strained among professors who are in charge of treating high-risk mothers and fetuses at university hospitals.
Jeju Island has no physician qualified to provide care for mothers with high-risk pregnancies, and 15 hospitals nationwide, or 23.1 percent, had just one doctor available, according to a 2024 survey that polled 111 obstetric specialists from 65 hospitals across the country. Fifty-five hospitals, or 85 percent, reported having no dedicated on-call obstetrician for nighttime or emergency care, including postpartum hemorrhage.
![Ambulances are parked in front of an emergency room of a general hospital in Seoul on Sept. 3, 2024. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/05/06/d11fc495-a211-43c8-88e5-02e97acc7933.jpg)
Ambulances are parked in front of an emergency room of a general hospital in Seoul on Sept. 3, 2024. [YONHAP]
The shortage extends to neonatal care.
The country has produced only 74 pediatric specialists dedicated to treating high-risk newborns in neonatal intensive care units from 2020 to 2025, according to data from the Korean Pediatric Society. The application rate for pediatric residency programs stood at just 2.4 percent in 2024.
Medical organizations have argued that the government needs to undertake several measures, including fee reforms, appropriate compensation and stronger protections against medical lawsuits, to address the shortage of doctors in obstetrics and pediatrics, which have effectively become less attractive fields.
The Health Ministry plans to launch an information system starting next month to track the availability of medical personnel and equipment at hospitals in real time. The system intends to improve the admissions and transfers of mothers and newborns.
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok wrote on his Facebook account on Monday that he feels “frustrated and deeply saddened when thinking of public anxiety and inconvenience stemming from the shortage of obstetric and pediatric specialists.”
“[The government] will work to develop a ‘Korean-style maternal and child specialty hospital’ model so that provincial health care can function sustainably without personnel being concentrated in only a few areas,” he said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHAE HYE-SEON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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