Natal Care    

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Natal Care has much improved in recent years and high standards of pre-and post-natal care are available, especially in Seoul, but also in other areas of the country. (Seoul perhaps has more hospitals/physicians who are accustomed to foreign parents-to-be) This includes private hospital rooms, birthing beds and the ability to deliver your baby in a birthing pool.

Some hospitals allow the father to be present at the birth – you may want to check on this with your obstetrician early on. In international marriages, if the mother is foreign but speaks Korean, it may be more difficult to convince the medical powers-that-be to allow the father to be present - Best to make the argument that dad has to be there to help translate. If the mother is Korean, the father-to-be may need to insist - politely but firmly.

Many male physicians, even some trained abroad, tend to communicate primarily with the father and exclude the mother. However, once the father-to-be explains that both parents must be treated equally, the obstetrician will usually comply.

Korea has a number of hospitals and doctors that specialise in treating infertility. It is so important for a Korean couple to have at least one child relatively soon after marriage that a high percentage of women seek help conceiving that Korea boasts many advancel fertility treatment facilities with a high success rates, A lot of research in the area is conducted here as well.

You can find some additional information on pre/post natal care in the Living in Korea section, under Having a Baby in Korea. Other expats who have delivered a child in Korea will be happy to share their experiences and knowledge with you if you post a request for information on the forum.

Korea's National Health Insurance covers much of the cost of having a baby in Korea for foreign residents and Korean nationals alike. For more info on the NHI, go to the Working  & Business section and click on Health Insurance Coverage, or click here.


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