This paper discusses the implications of South Korea's birth notification system and Protected Birth Act, which is set to take effect on July 19, 2024. The legislation aims to prevent infanticide and child abandonment by mandating birth reporting and allowing anonymous births for women in crisis. However, concerns have been raised about the Act's effectiveness in protecting both women and children, particularly regarding issues of disability and migrant families. This paper focuses on gender and healthcare issues, highlighting how the Act perpetuates discrimination against out-of-wedlock pregnancies and upholds normal family ideologies. It notes the absence of critical discussions on women's autonomy, safe pregnancy termination, and paternal responsibility. The importance of healthcare providers understanding and preparing for the Act's implementation is emphasized. The paper calls for strengthening social safety nets to improve healthcare access for vulnerable populations and eliminate discrimination against non-traditional families. Additionally, it addresses the need for comprehensive support systems for crisis pregnancies, including financial assistance, psychological support, parenting education, housing solutions, and expanded healthcare services. This paper acknowledges the Act's significance in providing a systematic state-level approach to protecting pregnant women in crisis, replacing the previous reliance on private organizations. Nonetheless, it also emphasizes the importance of continually reviewing and supplementing the system to address potential rights infringements and ensure its effectiveness. In conclusion, this paper advocates for ongoing discussions on gender and healthcare issues, and for future amendments to the law that reflect real-world circumstances and provide genuine protection for crisis pregnancies and infants.
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, Juhui Kim, Su Jin Cho, Eun Ae Park, Young Ju Kim, Sunwha Park Listeriosis is an infectious disease caused by
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, Eunkyo Park, Jungeun Shin, Eun-Hee Ha The accumulated evidence shows that adult disease may have origins during the fetal period and maternal environmental exposure may affect fetus and infant health. To assess the environmental health of fetus and infants and examine women's concerns about environmental health, we designed and conducted an environmental health survey in reproductive-aged women in 2011.
A stratified multi-stage design was adopted for our survey, and 1,000 reproductive-aged women aged 25 to 39 years participated. The participants were asked to complete an electronic questionnaire using the computer-assisted web interviewing method. All the participants were married woman, and 80% had experienced pregnancy before completing the survey.
In the study, 86.3% of the participants responded that they are worried about the environmental problems that may affect the fetus and infant. The participants responded that they were most worried about global warming and climate change (36.2%), electromagnetic waves (31.4%), and endocrine disrupting chemicals (25.1%). Moreover, participants responded that environmental problem can cause children's allergic disease, such as atopic dermatitis, metabolic syndrome and growth development.
We found reproductive-aged women have high awareness of children's environmental health. We also recommended that additional surveys on mother and child environmental health be conducted to make a health policy for women, fetus and infant.
In order to examine the issue of women and health in Korean society, we need to adopt a new approach to consider health and body as a subject of social theory beyond the biomedical model. Health and diseases are not objective entities defined by universal standards that are separate from the patient or physician's life experience, but rather the products of social, cultural, and political processes. From this point of view, this paper explores Korean women and health in two aspects of health and medical field, that is, women as medical service beneficiaries and providers. First, the gender paradox phenomenon—women live longer, but suffer from more illnesses—was confirmed by evaluating the physical and mental health status of women. The life expectancy of Korean women is longer, but their morbidity rate of physical and mental health and subjective health evaluation is worse than men. Second, as medical service providers, the present status of female doctors showed the horizontal and vertical segregation in the medical labor market despite of the increase of female doctors and medical students. We pointed out the problems of gender inequality in health care sector and discuss policy implications of ‘gender specific medicine’ to improve women's health and medical education.
, Jin Hwa Lee, Sook Hui Kim, Hyang Woon Lee Women with epilepsy(WWE) are at risk for reproductive and metabolic disorders. This study was performed to investifate whether WWE are more likely to have menstual or metabolic abnormalities, and whether some antiepileptic drugs(AEDs) more likely provoke those problems.
WWW aged 15-50 years old, taking one or more AEDs for at least 6 months, were recruited. Subjucts checked their oral temperature each morning. Body mass index(BMI : kg/m2) and waist to hip (W/H) ratio were calculated as obesity markers. Hirsutism index, as a marker of polycystic ovary syndrome, was calculated by Ferriman-Gallwey score(hirsutism if score>8). Serum tests ofr gonadotrophins, steroid hormones, sex hormone binding globulins (SHBG), lipid profiles, insulin were performed on menstrual cycle days 3 to 5.
Among 54 patients, 18 women were diagnosed as primary generalized epilepsy(PGE) and the other 36 were localoization-related epilepsy(LRE). Also, 21 women(38.9%) were treated with carbamazepine(CBZ), 14 women(25.9%) with valproate(VPA), and 19(35.2%) with lamotrigine(LTG) or topiramate(TPM). Menstrual disturbance was found in 60.0% of PGE versus 30.6% of LRE patients(p=0.050), while 64.3% of VPA and 28.6% of CBZ-treated patients(
WWE are more likely to experience menstrual and metabolic alterations. WWE with VPA tend to have abdominal obesity and alterations in lipid metabolism.
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