Table of Contents
Why Reproductive Healthcare?
So far, a lot of our articles have touched on a lot of general issues for anyone thinking of traveling to Korea or those of you who live here already. We’ve written on packing medical supplies for traveling and going to the dentist in Korea, as well as some Korean-specific procedures like rhinoplasty and SMILE laser eye surgery. But there’s one topic we feel like we really need to cover in order to do our job as a source of reliable information that’s hard-to-find on your own. So gather ‘round, everyone ! Today, we’re talking about sexual and reproductive health issues and seeing the OBGYN in Korea.
Sexual and reproductive health is a cornerstone of how we live and can impact so many aspects of our lives. If this right to control our bodies and the number of children we do (or don’t) have is not protected or respected, there can be lifelong consequences for our health and well-being, among other things. This absolutely concerns the men in the audience too . After all, almost half of the world’s population is made up of women, so you probably know quite a few of them personally, we imagine . But the weight of these consequences are primarily borne on the bodies and lives of women.
So before we jump into why accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare in Korea is a lot easier and cheaper than you may realize, let’s see where we’re at globally in terms of addressing reproductive health needs and seeing the OBGYN in Korea
Global Facts about OBGYN Care
We’ve made progress on helping mothers survive childbirth, but not enough
Maternal mortality rates, as of 2015, are still high in spite of progress made to help women survive preventable complications during and after childbirth. (Source: WHO) Though the dark purple countries have the highest rate (with 550–999 women dying in childbirth out of every 100,000 births), even the paler pinks show the need for improvement.
Even countries like the United States have work to do. In a 27 year period, the rate of maternal mortality in the country has actually steadily increased. (Source: Center for Disease Control) Check out the chart below!
18 out of 100,000 may not seem that bad. But when you break down the number by race, the difference is startling. From 2011 to 2014, white women had a much lower maternal mortality rate (12.4 deaths per 100,000 births). However, black women died more than three times as much (40 deaths per 100,000 births). (Source: Center for Disease Control)
In fact, compared to the U.S., South Korea has a much lower maternal mortality rate. This is in spite of its rapid development over a much shorter period of time. Between 1990 and 2015, the trend went in the opposite direction. There were only 11 deaths out of 100,000 births in 2015. (Source: WHO)
In a lot of ways, actually, South Korea has greatly improved the access to reproductive health services (with the glaring exception of abortion, which is still illegal in the country). A lot of these legal advances have been made thanks to the hard work of women-led advocacy efforts to pass less-restrictive laws related to all manner of health policies, among other aspects of life. Legislation like the Framework Act on Gender Equality and the Sexual Violence Protection and Victims Protection Act illustrate this. So how does this progress translate into real life, and how does it actually impact women? Is it any different for foreigners?
Why Find an OBGYN in Korea?
Basically, no matter where you go, sexual and reproductive health is far from guaranteed. This is true even when you’re at home. So what will you do when you’re traveling or living abroad? Traveling when you’re in need of sexual or reproductive healthcare can be daunting, if not terrifying. That’s why we’ll be focusing on what to do when you find yourself abroad and need of help.
We’ll be focusing on South Korea for a couple of reasons during this series. For one, healthcare is much cheaper here. This can be surprising to women who are used to paying a lot more for care in their home countries. Also, a lot of reproductive health options are available over the counter. This includes birth control pills. This is quite the shock for women coming from countries with more restrictive policies.
Finding information on reproductive health in Korea
But most importantly, searching for information in English on female reproductive health is quite challenging. Communicating with the OBGYN in Korea tha you do find can also be difficult. So we want to help fill this gap with research.
Though we’ll focus on the critical issues and questions related to this topic, we’d love to hear from you about what you think. What would you like to see us cover in terms of sexual and reproductive health? Seeing the OBGYN in Korea? Finding out the best birth control option for you? Navigating difficult insurance claims? If you have a question that needs answering, or just want to satisfy your curiosity, let us know!
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