Newborn Dies After Failing to Find Hospital for Emergency Care

[Anchor]

A tragic incident has occurred in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, where a newborn baby passed away. Despite the urgent need for treatment by a neonatologist due to oxygen deprivation and a dropping heart rate, the baby could not find a hospital to accept them and ultimately lost their life. This incident, occurring in a region suffering from a shortage of neonatologists, highlights the reality of concerns regarding medical gaps.

Reporter Park Ha-jeong has the story.

[Reporter]

The baby was born at an OB/GYN clinic in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, at 8:13 p.m. on July 4.

[Baby's Mother: They said the baby was 3.47 kg. The doctor told them not to weigh the baby but to provide 2 liters of oxygen immediately. If the situation was that critical, they should have informed the guardians...]

[Hospital Official: The baby did not cry for about 3 to 5 minutes. Usually, if you pat or stimulate them, they cry and recover. So, the baby recovered.]

When cyanosis appeared, causing the baby's body to turn bluish due to a lack of oxygen in the blood, and the heart rate dropped to 70 after midnight, a nursing assistant called the doctor. The medical staff then began preparing to transfer the baby to a hospital with a neonatologist.

[Baby's Father: They told me I needed to come down quickly because they had to transfer the baby. They told me to bring my own car. They said the baby was just limp.]

There are three nearby hospitals with neonatologists: Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Jesus Hospital, and Wonkwang University Hospital.

Among them, the only professor who was a neonatologist in charge of the neonatal intensive care unit at Jeonbuk National University Hospital had expressed an intention to resign due to an excessive workload and was on leave.

For this reason, the OB/GYN clinic did not contact Jeonbuk National University Hospital. They stated that Jesus Hospital was full and could not accept new patients, so they headed to Wonkwang University Hospital, which was over 30 minutes away by car, with the baby.

The baby was already unable to breathe and passed away around 3:30 a.m. after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) efforts.

[Hospital Official: Because the judgment was late and the arrangements were also delayed, it seems that, in retrospect, it led to the worst possible outcome.]

The parents, who had left messages for their baby on ultrasound photos while waiting for the day they would meet, had to say goodbye as soon as they met.

[Baby's Father: Anyone could see the golden time, the warning lights were flashing. The baby was signaling for help.]

The police have launched an investigation into whether there was any medical malpractice.

(Video coverage: Joo Yong-jin | Video editing: Kim Jin-won)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.