Yeongju City Sees Increase in Births for the First Time in 10 Years... Achieving Results in Birth Promotion Projects

Significantly Reducing the Economic Burden
with Infertility Treatment Support and Birth Celebration Boxes

Yeongju City in Gyeongbuk announced that the number of births in 2024 increased by 18 to 330 compared to the previous year.

Yeongju City Sees Increase in Births for the First Time in 10 Years... Achieving Results in Birth Promotion Projects

Yeongju City Maternity Obstetrics Clinic is celebrating its 1,000th newborn. Photo by Yeongju City

This marks the first time in the past decade that the declining birth rate has shifted to an upward trend, showing tangible results from the city's various birth promotion policies.

Yeongju City has continuously provided tailored support throughout the life cycle, from women of childbearing age to families with newborns. A representative program is the ‘Excitement Waiting for You (林)’ forest prenatal education program linked with the National Forest Healing Center, which received great responses by allowing pregnant women and their spouses to emotionally connect with the fetus through forest meditation, walks, and making baby supplies with fathers.

Additionally, through the ‘Blessed Our Baby Hope Start Project,’ prenatal classes are held for 240 pregnant women registered in Yeongju City, providing information for safe pregnancy and healthy childbirth to help prepare for happy parenting. Support is also provided for prenatal tests (blood tests, urine tests, etc.) for local pregnant women and newlyweds to create a healthy pregnancy and childbirth environment.

In particular, economic support for families with newborns has been significantly expanded. Families having their second child or more receive 3 million KRW in first meeting vouchers using the National Happiness Card, and a birth celebration box containing essential childcare items such as thermometers and baby bathtubs is also provided. For the first time in the province, 1 million KRW for postpartum care and 500,000 KRW as a birth congratulatory gift are given, and birth incentives are provided differentially: 200,000 KRW per month for the first child (12 months), 300,000 KRW per month for the second child (24 months), and 500,000 KRW per month for the third child or more (36 months).

Yeongju Christian Hospital, which operates an obstetrics and gynecology department in a delivery-vulnerable area, has created a 24-hour delivery environment, establishing stable childbirth infrastructure in the region. Also, starting this year, the Gyeongbuk-type infertility couple treatment support has been expanded to a maximum of 25 treatments per childbirth, helping to alleviate the economic burden on infertile couples.

Distinctive birth promotion policies in cooperation with the local community also attract attention. Various support projects involving local organizations and companies have received positive responses, including △herbal medicine for mothers (Korean Medical Association) △home first aid kits (Pharmaceutical Association) △infant chairs (Novelis Korea) △material support (KT&G Yeongju Factory) △100-day photo shoots (Donggi & Bitsro Studio) △ginseng beauty sets for mothers (Punggi Ginseng Agricultural Cooperative) △free hot spring use for pregnant women (Sobaeksan Punggi Hot Spring Resort) △publication of birth stories (Yeongju Newspaper & Yeongju Citizen Newspaper).

Kim Moon-su, director of Yeongju City Health Center, said, “We will continuously improve the ongoing birth promotion projects and actively strive to ensure that more pregnant women and families with newborns can benefit. We will do our best to reduce the burden of childbirth and parenting and create an environment conducive to having children.”

Last year, the number of births in South Korea increased by 3.1% compared to the previous year, marking the first rise in nine years. It is analyzed that the increase in marriages delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and birth-friendly policies worked together. In Gyeongbuk Province, the number of births in Yeongju and Mungyeong cities increased by 18 and 33 respectively last year, raising expectations that the sharp decline in births and population may ease.