Having a Baby in Korea.......From A New Dad's Point of View

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It was 6.45am on July 23 when I woke to find my wife, Jaewon, sitting at the side of the bed. ‘I think my waters just broke’ she said looking down. The evidence confirmed that the day had arrived. Our little boy (we knew it was a boy, the lady at the Heryoojae Women’s Hospital in Il-san told my wife months ago) was ready to join us. I was pleased with developments as the little bloke was already six days overdue. He was going to be induced the next day but I preferred the idea that he worked to his own agenda.

We called Jaewon’s mother, collected a few things and 45 minutes later we were at the clinic. Heryoojae is essentially a big maternity ward. Jaewon had been visiting there every month for the past six, with me in tow too once I’d rejoined her from work abroad. Dr. Han, pregnant herself, reassured us each check-up while she identified body parts for us as she scanned over Jaewon’s impressive belly. The service and care from the staff was first-class. They walked us through the whole process, handling all enquiries and questions with patience.

Jaewon was taken to a bed in the delivery section and put on a drip to help things along a little. She got up for walks, chatted to a couple of other women doing the same. I nodded at the loitering men, exchanging looks that bonded.

At around 11:00am the contractions were coming at 5 minute intervals and over the following 7 hours increased in frequency and intensity.  I wasn’t subjected to learning any new colourful Korean ‘terms of endearment’ during those hours but my crushed fingers and rumpled shirt required no interpretation, the going was tough. The last 90 minutes seemed to take an eternity, largely because my Korean wasn’t sufficient to understand the banter. For about an hour, I thought she was about to give birth any moment. Asking my wife to interpret seemed unfair so I just held on tight, reassured, mopped brow and focused on breathing. Around this time the staff thought things were dragging on and I was asked to leave the room. Through a crack in the door, I saw a midwife straddling my wife’s belly. They were just helping her and protecting my sensibilities. Straight after, I was allowed back in.

At 5.55pm, they wheeled in a baby bath and a table with instruments and I realized it was game on. The doctor entered the room along with 2 or 3 other staff and on the stroke of 6:00pm, with every vein on my wife’s head bulging, Harvey Chae Youngs arrived looking far brighter and calmer than mum and dad. He was gently placed on mum’s chest and he clearly loved it. He was wide-eyed, more Caucasian than we’d expected and quite passive considering his journey. Rubber glove on I cut the cord and gave him his first bath while Harvey discovered his lungs and the staff smiled and agreed that he was ‘ajoo yippayo’. A cuddle and quick feed from mum and he was taken to the nursery.

At Heryoojae, they quarantine babies for the first day or two. It was kind of great but excruciating looking at him through the window during the three thirty-minute minute daily viewing times. Families hold up the names of their babies and the nurses find and display the summonsed little people at the window,

Two days later we moved into a care house on the 7th floor of the same building, where they taught Jaewon how to feed and bath Harvey, provided nutritious meals and kept him in the nursery two nights to ensure mum got rest. We stayed there for a week, a well-spent W900,000. For the record, clinic costs during the nine months were about W40,000 per visit and the birth itself cost about W600,000. The whole adventure probably cost around W2000,000 and included other things like little formula giveaways, yoga, breathing and bathing lessons and two free photo shoots at local studios. 

Harvey’s home now and Jaewon and I are learning to be parents. We’re getting marvelous support from the in-laws, an abundance of love plus daily food deliveries thanks to my mother-in-law. Packages, cards, calls and emails from Australia arrive to remind us of Harvey’s other loving family across the sea. And Harvey is quickly settling into a cross-cultural life full of celebrated contrast, opportunity and challenge where two countries, Korea and Australia, will play leading roles.

About the happy parents:
Jawon and Rob met in Australia in 2004. He then moved to Oman as Director of an Australian language school, while she worked as an international flight attendant for Gulf Air. After a wide-ranging career including tour guiding in Nepal, project management, university marketing and writing for Vogue magazine, Rob is now settled in Korea and on the lookout for a new professional challenges.

15 comments | Add your comment

dingo, 2008-08-21 12:11:21

congratualtions on the new baby ^^

Jess, 2008-08-25 19:11:39

Is the quarantine a normal thing? I am due in January
(my husband is Korean) and this might be a deciding factor of where we have our baby.

jiob, 2008-08-26 10:56:13

Yes the quarantine seems to be a normal thing, but major hospitals in Seoul allow parents to see their baby during this period.

liz, 2008-08-28 08:44:16

i was wondering if you obtained extra insurance for your baby prior to being born. if so, were there difficulties since you weren't a korean citizen?

Jean, 2008-09-01 16:49:20

Congrats for the new add to your family!

To all in my case ..2 years ago l gave birth on Bundang Cheil womens hospital to a very healthy girl.
http://bundangcheil.com/
They treat us really good. My doctor speaks English just fine. We were very happy and contented of there service.
My daughter never in the quarantine? But the nursery will taken care of the baby for 3 night or its up to you if you want your baby at your side while your in the hospital.

My husband and I are both foreign so we had no idea what thing work here LOL but we had got generous help from our Local friends.
We were very lucky that time I give birth 2 days a head of my husband summer vacation so the boss give him a month of off work!
Thanks God that wasn't really hard for two of us!
Mind you no mother in-law and relatives with us here us Me and my husband so that was very interesting.

Birthin in Korea, 2008-09-04 01:29:56

We have had 2 of our children born in Korean hospitals. While the quarentine is normal for Koreans, a reputable hospital will not keep you from holding your new child even on day one. The quarentine is supposedly for the mother's health, to give her time to recover better, but I belive part of the recovery is being able to hold your new child. Just ask, and they should let you hold the child or even keep the child in the cradel in your recovery room.

luvmedo, 2008-09-17 14:19:30

Yonsei Severance Hospital in Sinchon offers rooming-in after your baby's birth provided that you pay the extra for a private room and that there are no complications.

KL, 2008-09-26 02:08:29

Congratulations to you and Baby Harvey!!
My Fiance and I are getting married soon and are moving to Korea for 2 years for his job. We were contemplating having our first child in Korea but I was unsure on the care I would get while pregnant and what the delivery would be like. I have to say it was great to hear from so many people that things are normal. It's very reasuring.

SL, 2008-10-02 23:26:38

I gave birth at Yonsei Severance, and I had the baby in my room the whole time, except at night, when they insisted that she go to the nursery. Even then, though, I could go visit her whenever she woke up to feed her. As luvmedo says, though, I did have to pay extra for a private room. It was well worth it.

Michael, 2008-10-06 09:22:16

Hello all,
My wife is Korean and we are currently trying to have our second baby. Our first had to be delived by cesarean and the doctor said after it was done that her hip are not the right shape for natural delivery and that in more children would all have to be cesarean. So my question is has any one had experince with cesarean in Korean?

Bassexpander, 2008-10-30 15:43:59

You can listen to an audio podcast with two foreigners who talk about having a baby in Korea. They say some interesting things about experiences in hospitals. It's at www.themidnightrunner.com

Birthing in Korea, 2008-11-04 21:57:23

How terrible that they would take your baby away from you for the first two days. The first 24 hours are crucial for bonding and establinshing breastfeeding. I hope that things are going well for you and your new family.

Best regards

Henni, 2008-11-07 00:23:43

Congratulations and a very happy life to you all!

mitaeappa, 2008-11-09 17:21:42

Congratulations on the birth of your son. Both of my children, Mi-Ri (daughter) and Tae-Ri (son), hence my ID (mitaeappa) were born at Cha Hospital in Bundang. The hospital opened just a month or so before Mi-Ri was born, and she was the first American born there. The doctors, nurses, and staff were all extremely professional, kind, understanding, etc. My children were naturally put in the new-born babie's ward; (all hospitals do this), however, I could go in to visit them, as long as I wore the steril hospital clothing. My wife was only in the hospital for three days with each child. The care was excellent and the cost was 300,000 won for delivering my daughter and 350,000 won for my son about 1.5 years later. My children now attend Korean public schools and life is grand. I wish you and your family the best of happiness.

sipos, 2009-05-19 19:58:58

Szia, Robika!
Congratulations!
love: sipos

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