Late pregnancies and Covid are a bad combination

A nurse tends to a baby born to a Covid-positive mother. [YONHAP]

Ms. Cho, who is eight-and-a-half-months pregnant, was recently told that she would not be allowed to deliver where she planned to.

The reason: Ms. Cho recently tested positive for Covid-19.

"There is only one maternity ward for infected mothers in my region, so if that becomes full, I’ll have to go to the countryside," she said.

But that's not a sure thing either. "I feel horrified every time I hear news about an infected pregnant woman delivering a baby at a hospital in distant provinces or in an ambulance because there were no hospitals accepting," Cho told the JoongAng Ilbo.

"Although two years have passed since the Covid-19 pandemic, there are no countermeasure prepared for pregnant women," she fumes. "[The government] is too irresponsible.”

Pregnant women in Korea are unusual victims of the ongoing Omicron wave of virus infections. Private hospitals are turning away coronavirus-positive pregnant mothers arriving to give birth.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare estimates there are around 330,000 pregnant women in Korea — all at risk of getting infected and finding themselves without a place to give birth.

The health ministry said it set aside a total of 160 birthing beds for virus-positive pregnant women in 27 hospitals nationwide as of March 7. The government said it would increase the number of beds to 252, but that still is not enough to cover all infected pregnant women. That number has grown to the largest figure ever with the recent Omicron wave, although precise numbers are not available.

Some desperate mothers-to-be are turning to the internet for help.

Thirty-two year old Ms. Song, who is in week 32 of her pregnancy, recently searched online for mothers who gave birth after being diagnosed with Covid-19.

Song received a message from one of her social media followers, 35-year-old Ms. Kim, a pseudonym, saying, “It was an experience I never wanted to do again. You have to be careful."

“I asked for advice [...] out of frustration and as the public health center was out of touch,” Song said, adding, “It makes me anxious just to think of giving birth in an ambulance."

In one online community with local moms, one user wrote, “I am a Covid patient, and my labor has been going on for two hours every five to ten minutes.” She asked for a hospital nearby where she could deliver. The user, who introduced herself as woman in week 38 of her pregnancy, was desperately searching online just hours before giving birth.

Advice from pregnant women who survived such situations is being shared widely online — such as sharing a list of maternity clinics in a district that provide telemedicine or useful local government policies. “I hope this piece of information is useful for someone,” one wrote.

Concerns were raised that pregnant women and fetuses are in a medical blind spot.

The city of Hanam in Gyeonggi, like several other local governments, has been operating a maternity clinic dedicated to Covid-19 patients since March 4, but only for pre-natal services.

The clinic is operated by local obstetrician volunteers. When an infected pregnant woman asks the public health center for medical treatment, face-to-face treatment is provided in a negative-pressure ward prepared by the city.

"All the stories of infected pregnant women are touching and make me feel sad,” said Kim Yeong-cheol, chairman of the Medical Association of Hanam and director of Hanam Cheil Obstetrics and Gynecology who voluntarily participates in the service.

"Calls from mothers are coming from other regions, from Seoul and Namyangju in Gyeonggi, and some even cry when asking for help,” Kim said.

Kim stressed for the need for a government policy that can protect both the infected mother and the fetus.

“The government recently came up with measures giving medical insurance incentives to hospitals that deliver babies of a Covid-positive pregnant women,” Kim said, but, “only a few clinics will accept infected mothers.”

BY CHAE HYE-SEON, SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]