A pregnant woman at 24 weeks whose membranes had ruptured was transported by firefighting helicopter from Jeju University Hospital on October 1 to a hospital able to provide emergency treatment. About a week earlier, a 33-week pregnant woman whose waters had broken in Yecheon was flown to Busan after no accepting hospital could be found in Daegu or North Gyeongsang.
The two cases show how a shortage of hospitals able to handle childbirth emergencies is forcing pregnant women to travel tens or hundreds of kilometers for care.