[News Today] AUTOMATIC BIRTH REPORTING SYSTEM

[LEAD]
Starting today, the 'Birth Notification System' will be implemented to protect infants who are abandoned or murdered by their parents at birth. This marks the first step towards guaranteeing the 'Right to a Safe Birth'.

[Report]
These newborns are less than one day old. From Friday birth registration is no longer required for parents.

Births are reported automatically to local governments when hospitals where the babies are born register their births into the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service system.

Moon Eun-hwa/ Seoul Medical Center
Parents had to report childbirth by presenting birth certificates. The birth reporting system will make sure no child is unreported.

Discussions of the birth reporting system gained momentum after a woman was caught last year for murdering her two biological infants and hiding their bodies in a refrigerator for years.

Mother who murdered 2 infants/(June 2023)
(Why did you kill your children?)...
(Don't you feel sorry to them?)...

In the second half of last year, of 25 children whose births were not reported six were found to have died.

The birth reporting system could act as a social safety net in protecting children's right to life.

Kang Mi-jung / Save the Children
It's the first step to the legal protection of children's basic rights.

However, extraordinary circumstances surrounding unwanted pregnancies or other difficulties must also be considered, as some expecting mothers may resort to giving birth outside of hospitals. This is why counseling organizations will provide help with childbirth and child rearing with anonymity guaranteed.

Ha Young-ok / Nurse, Seoul Medical Center
The birth rate can be raised further if vulnerable women, especially single mothers, can get more help.

Experts stress that such women can give birth and raise their children more safely if they have access to help before and after childbirth.

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