Empowering Families: Hapcheon-gun Revolutionizes Pregnancy and Childbirth with Innovative Smart Policies

[아이뉴스24 임승제 기자] The birth policy introduced by Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do to respond to the disappearance of the region is injecting new vitality into the local community.

Recently, two mothers in Hapcheon-gun gave birth to their sixth child, drawing attention and receiving great congratulations. Accordingly, the military awarded a military commendation to these families who contributed to creating an atmosphere encouraging childbirth as model families with multiple children.

Hapcheon-gun is showing a decline in the number of births from 137 in 2019 to 97 in 2022 and 62 in 2023. The total fertility rate also fell sharply from 1.01 to 0.64 last year.

Accordingly, the military has decided to make creating a healthy pregnancy and childbirth environment its top priority and to overcome the low birth rate crisis by developing systematic and multifaceted support projects ranging from pregnancy preparation to support for infant and maternal health after childbirth.

The military provides postpartum care expenses of up to 3 million won per birth to reduce the financial burden on families giving birth and improve the health of mothers.

The support is at the highest level in the country, far exceeding the 500,000 to 1 million won provided by nearby cities and counties, and covers a wide range of costs for maternal health recovery and management.

In addition, for families who do not receive support because they do not meet the existing requirements, such as weekend couples or children going to special schools, the ordinance on support for pregnancy and childbirth was partially revised on September 26, and the residence requirement was shortened from 1 year to 6 months to provide further support. We ensured that many families giving birth could receive support.

Panoramic view of the ‘Happy Korean Treasure Photo Exhibition’. [사진=경상남도 합천군]

We also actively take care of maternal and newborn health.

Considering the geographical conditions of the county, which is a vulnerable area for childbirth, the county provides up to 1 million won for 90% of the out-of-pocket costs for health care workers’ transportation costs and services for families who have difficulty in postpartum recovery and raising newborns due to the absence of maternal and newborn health care providers and professional personnel. Additional military support will be provided until then.

In addition, the conditions for support were revised from ‘families where the couple and their existing children have had an address in Hapcheon-gun for 6 months’ to ‘families where the father or mother has registered as a resident in Hapcheon-gun for 6 months’ based on the newborn’s birth date, so that in fact, most families giving birth are eligible for support. You can receive it.

We will also expand support programs for infertile couples who want children.

The county provides support for in vitro fertilization and artificial insemination procedures and testing fees to residents diagnosed with infertility. In vitro fertilization is supported up to 20 times, and artificial insemination is supported up to 5 times.

In addition, depending on income, additional support of 500,000 won to 1 million won in addition to the government subsidy is provided to ease the financial burden on infertile couples.

Through support for infertility treatment costs, eight newborns were born last year and five were born this year, showing that support for infertility treatment costs has greatly contributed to increasing the birth rate.

An official from Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do said, “We are requesting social security consultations with the goal of abolishing the income standard and increasing support amounts to strengthen support for infertile couples,” and added, “Based on the results of the consultation, we plan to further expand through amendments to the ordinance.”

A government official from Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do is explaining the registration and system for pregnant women to residents who are about to give birth. [사진=경상남도 합천군]

We make every effort to provide health care services in the early stages of life as a healthy first step for families during pregnancy and childbirth.

The early-life health care project being implemented by the military was selected as a public contest project by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in June 2022, and the project has begun in earnest and is receiving a positive response from families giving birth.

This year marks the 3rd year of implementation, and dedicated nurses and social workers who have completed specialized training courses visit pregnant women and families giving birth under the age of 2 to ‘check the health status of the baby and mother’, ‘counseling on infant growth and development’, and ‘how to deal with safety accidents at home’. We provide customized health management services such as ‘local resource linkage service’.

In particular, we actively intervened in resolving the problem of households in crisis and provided various customized services such as ‘connection with mental health welfare center for pregnant women with depression’, ‘request for Dream Start project for families with childcare problems’, and ‘connection with medical support for unregistered immigrant infants and toddlers’, which resulted in very high satisfaction among the subjects. am.

Public officials from Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do are visiting families in the region who have given birth to children under the age of 2 and providing services such as checking the health of the baby and the mother. [사진=경상남도 합천군]

Pregnancy- and childbirth-friendly policies that support maternal health will also be strengthened.

Starting this year, the income standard for the medical expenses support project for high-risk pregnant women has been abolished and support is provided up to 3 million won, ensuring a healthy birth and recovery of mother and child’s health.

Through agreements with local medical institutions, rubella, basic blood tests, and birth defect tests are provided free of charge to pregnant women, and folic acid, iron, and nutritional supplements are provided according to the weeks of pregnancy. We also provide various gifts to celebrate childbirth, easing the financial burden on mothers and families.

In addition, the military supports ‘medical expenses for premature infants and congenital abnormalities’ regardless of income, and supports hearing aid costs up to 2.7 million won for infants and toddlers diagnosed with hearing loss.

The ‘diaper support project for low-income families’ will be increased from 80,000 won to 90,000 won. The infant formula support project was increased from 100,000 won to 110,000 won.

In particular, customized packaged supplementary food is delivered to the homes of about 70 pregnant women and infants twice a month to help resolve nutritional imbalances. In order to increase the amount of support for diapers, an essential child care product, we applied for social security consultation last June and implemented it as soon as the consultation is completed. I plan to do it.

Kim Yun-cheol, the governor of Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, said, “Childbirth is an important factor that goes beyond individual happiness and determines the future of our society. Our goal is to ease the burden of raising children and lay the foundation for them to grow their dreams.” He added, “We will continue to implement various pregnancy and childbirth policies in the future.” “We will do our best to increase the birth rate through the program and allow more families to raise their children happily,” he said.

/Hapcheon=Reporter Lim Seung-je (isj2013@inews24.com)