Delivery-capable facilities now searchable on national health data platform

The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service said Monday it will provide the public with information on medical facilities capable of delivering babies, including midwifery clinics.

The number of facilities offering delivery services stood at 436 as of 2025, down 29.7 percent from 2015.

The gap is particularly stark at the community level: of 1,571 obstetrics and gynecology clinics and hospitals handling local maternity care, only 260 actually perform deliveries. Expectant mothers and their families have had to rely on online communities or call facilities one by one to find out where they can give birth.

To address that inconvenience, the agency will draw on medical billing records and healthcare resource data to identify and publish information on facilities where deliveries are actually available.

The information will be freely accessible to anyone through the agency's statistical information platform, the Health and Medical Big Data Open System.

In the second half of this year, the agency also plans to offer location-based information on nearby delivery-capable facilities through the "HIRA Health Map" on its website.

However, the agency cautioned that the information may not reflect real-time availability, as individual facilities' circumstances can change, and urged users to confirm with a facility directly before visiting.

Hong Seung-kwon, president of the agency, said "the delivery facility information service we are launching today is a public-facing service built on health and medical big data, and we expect it to contribute to fulfilling the national agenda of 'a government that communicates and innovates with the people.'" He added that "going forward, the agency will use AI-driven innovation to support government efforts to reform the essential healthcare system and close gaps in regional, essential and public medical services, while actively providing information and services that meaningfully reduce inconvenience for the public and for healthcare providers."