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YouTuber's inability to find care for postpartum hemorrhaging highlights concerns about obstetrics

Published: 25 Nov. 2025, 20:56

Actor and YouTuber Lim La-la, right, speaks in a YouTube video shared on Oct. 26. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A woman's account of being turned away from multiple emergency rooms while hemorrhaging after giving birth to twins has renewed concerns that Korea’s obstetric system is collapsing as delivery rooms and specialists disappear.

Postpartum hemorrhage is one of the leading causes of maternal death in Korea, responsible for 34.8 percent of maternal deaths in 2021.

YouTuber Lim La-la, who has 2.6 million subscribers, described moving from hospital to hospital in a video shared on Oct. 26.

“No hospital agreed to take me, so I went back to the maternity hospital where I had delivered my twins, which was a 40-minute drive from my home in Gangnam District, southern Seoul,” she said. "I kept thinking, ‘There are so many hospitals around me, so why won’t anyone accept a mother in this condition? How can anyone choose to have a baby in this country if this is the reality?’”

Prof. Jun Jong-kwan, a specialist in multiple births at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, was able to stabilize Lim's condition in the emergency room.

“Watching the professor rush in at dawn made me realize how hard obstetricians work,” the YouTuber said. “This field is not doing well.”

The video had 2.2 million views as of Tuesday. Viewers expressed shock, wondering how a country spending heavily to address low birthrates “still has no emergency room for a mother in crisis,” and how “even in Gangnam, there is no hospital that accepts obstetric emergencies.”

Medical experts say Lim’s experience reflects broader structural failures.

The doors of Kwak Women’s Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, remain closed on June 19, 2024. [NEWS1]

The Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (KSOG) said in a presentation at a policy forum hosted by the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences on Saturday that the number of medical institutions offering delivery services fell from 1,371 in 2003 to 468 in 2023, a 65.9 percent drop in 20 years.

The KSOG warned that “a decrease in general hospitals capable of delivery leads to a weaker response to obstetric emergencies.”

A shortage of obstetricians is deepening the problem. In a 2019 survey by the KSOG, 290 of 684 obstetricians and gynecologists, or 42.4 percent, said they no longer handle deliveries. In the same survey, 57 percent of residents training in obstetrics and gynecology said they planned to avoid delivery work after becoming certified.

The pipeline to becoming a future faculty member is also narrowing. The number of maternal-fetal medicine fellows — who often become university professors — fell from 45 in 2021 to 36 in 2022, 23 in 2023 and 12 in 2024.

According to the KSOG, “even top-tier general hospitals may face service disruptions.” Last year, universities nationwide had only 129 full-time faculty members in maternal-fetal medicine. “At this point, the field is close to disappearing," said one obstetrics professor at a major Seoul hospital.

The decline in delivery institutions and specialists has weakened the emergency care network. In a survey last September, 68.7 percent of 111 obstetrics professors who treat high-risk mothers and fetuses at university hospitals said they manage high-risk cases with two or fewer faculty members. Fifteen hospitals, or 23.1 percent, reported that a single professor oversees all delivery-room care.

A staff member cares for newborns in the nursery of a postpartum care center in Seoul on Feb. 28. 2024. [YONHAP]

The KSOG says hospitals need at least six obstetric specialists to safely manage transfers and treatment for high-risk mothers with conditions such as postpartum hemorrhage. Only 7.8 percent of hospitals met that standard. In the survey, 84.7 percent of respondents cited “a shortage of specialists who can respond to emergencies” as the greatest challenge.

Choi An-na, the director of Gangneung Asan Medical Center and an obstetrician, said criminal liability pushes physicians away from delivery care.

“Doctors stop handling deliveries because they face criminal charges when adverse events occur,” Choi said. “Even when physicians do everything possible, childbirth carries unpredictable risks. The country must create legal protections that exempt obstetricians from criminal responsibility so they can care for mothers and babies without fear.”

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, NAM SOO-HYOUN [[email protected]]