Jeonnam Province Launches Full-Scale Implementation of 'Birth Notification System' and 'Protected Childbirth System'

Activation of Public Protection System Including Childbirth Notification at Medical Institutions

Comprehensive 24-Hour Counseling and Services Through Local Counseling Centers

Jeonnam Province announced on the 25th that the ‘Birth Notification System,’ which automatically registers the birth of all children born in all medical institutions, and the ‘Protected Childbirth System’ for pregnant women in crisis have officially been implemented.

The ‘Birth Notification System’ was introduced following the infant abandonment case in Suwon in June last year. This system imposes the obligation to report births not only on parents but also on medical institutions and the local governments where the birth took place, ensuring that no child’s birth goes unregistered.

The ‘Protected Childbirth System’ supports pregnant women in crisis who face social and economic difficulties in raising a child to give birth ‘anonymously.’

Medical institutions are responsible for prenatal checkups, delivery, and birth notification, protecting the life and health of both mother and baby, and are expected to prevent out-of-hospital births and child abandonment.

Pregnant women in crisis who face physical and economic difficulties in childbirth and parenting, or mothers raising infants under six months old, receive counseling and welfare information through local counseling centers, connections to single-parent families and social welfare facilities, legal support, postpartum care, and full coverage of medical expenses.

Medical institutions use pseudonyms and management numbers (replacing resident registration numbers) to assist with prenatal checkups, delivery, and birth notification.

However, the ‘Protected Childbirth System’ is a last resort, and the fundamental principle is ‘parental care’ (child-rearing by the biological mother). Pregnant women are granted a minimum reflection period of seven days after childbirth and can withdraw their application for protected childbirth at any time before adoption is finalized.

Yoo Mija, Director of Women and Family Policy at Jeonnam Province, said, “Through the Birth Notification System and Protected Childbirth System, we will provide an environment where all pregnant women in crisis who face difficulties in childbirth and parenting can receive help at any time and give birth safely. We will do our best to create a world where mothers and babies are respected and protected in any situation.”

Since April this year, Jeonnam Province has designated ‘Seongmo’s House’ in Mokpo as a local counseling center for pregnant women in crisis and established a 24-hour counseling system (operating simultaneously via 1308 and Kakao Channel). The province plans to strengthen promotion of the ‘Protected Childbirth System’ through health rooms and counseling offices in middle and high schools, pharmacies (on medicine bags and pregnancy test kits), and family centers to help pregnant women in crisis make wise choices.