Pyongyang Maternity Hospital

In the 1970s, a state policy for maternity issues was initiated. The achievement of building the hospital was used as means to emphasize Kim Jong Il's achievements for his confirmed status as an heir apparent.—and the congress was followed by large construction projects continuing into the early 1980s. The hospital was completed in less than nine months. Completed in 1979, the hospital began operating on the 34th anniversary of the Law on Sex Equality on 30 July 1980. The hospital was praised as one of the best in mainland Northeast Asia after opening; the quality of maternity care in the country had improved since the 1940s and 1950s. Around 2005, nationwide attention was given to maternity hospitals and obstetric and gynecological departments to ensure that a larger proportion of women would receive in-hospital care for childbirth by competent medical staff. The Pyongyang Maternity Hospital's management and facilities were also improved at that time. In 2012 the hospital was expanded by Kim Jong Un with a new wing, equipped with modern medical equipment, which houses the Breast Cancer Research Center. The hospital has a personal connection for Kim Jong Un, as it had for his father Kim Jong Il, as Kim Jong Un's mother Ko Yong-hui died due to breast cancer. On 20 March 2020, the 500th set of triplets born at Pyongyang Maternity Hospital were born. ==Facilities==

Health services are provided for childbirth, infertility, menstrual disorder, dystonia, chronic inflammatory disease, problems associated with pregnancy and cardiology, neurology, ophthalmology, dentistry, ear, nose and throat, and physiotherapy. Around 60 different traditional medicines were in use . Common traditional treatments include cupping therapy, moxibustion, and acupuncture with and without electric charge. Approximately 30 percent of services provided by the hospital are based on traditional medicine. ==Equipment and staff==

Kim Song-hui is the director of the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital, and the vice-director of the hospital is Han Myong-gun. 70-percent of the staff was female. The hospital contains a unique system of visitor booths, which can be accessed directly from the ground floor, and in the meantime use these booths. The Breast Cancer Research Center was featured on the local news in 2012 after it had received two advanced Siemens medical imaging scanners. North Korea Tech speculated from the news that these were Artis and Somatom Emotion type medical scanners. However, modern medical equipment remains rare in the North Korean healthcare system, despite the presence of some advanced equipment from Siemens. Members of the NGO WomenCrossDMZ were told on their visit to the hospital that international sanctions had previously stopped the hospital from obtaining necessary parts for an x-ray machine. Experts have responded unclearly on these claims that the sanctions could cause problems with medicine. However, the x-ray machine contains radioactive materials, which complicates the export of such machines from the United States. ==Patients and visitors==

the daily number of new patients was 400, and it has been estimated that 710,000 children have been born at the hospital. , 453 triplets have been born in the hospital. The first triplets were born in September 1980. Any North Korean woman may come to give birth to her first baby in the hospital. Mothers typically stay for ten days after giving birth, and those who give birth through a Caesarean section stay for 15 days. In addition, the inability of common people to conveniently travel from city to city adds another barrier to access to hospitals with high-quality treatments, although any parent diagnosed with multiple births will be immediately sent to the hospital. Clothes, nutritious food and blankets are also given as gifts and receive further subsidies and care from an assigned medical worker until school age. The children and parents who bore a multiple birth of three or more are cared for in the hospital until they weigh four kilograms. For instance, premier Choe Yong Rim and other party officials attended the opening ceremony of the Breast Cancer Research Center's new wing on 8 October 2012. Foreign patients and visitors Foreigners have been treated at the hospital, and many foreign children have been born here, including South Korean, Palestinian, and Cuban children. The first known South Korean baby to be born in North Korea was born on 10 October 2005 to a mother who had come to watch the Arirang Mass Games. Foreign tourist groups are sometimes allowed to access the hospital. Lee Hee-ho, the former First Lady of South Korea, visited on 5 August 2015. Some members of the Namibian delegation led by President Sam Nujoma visited the hospital in November 2000. ==Portrayals in North Korean culture==

Our Warm House, a North Korean medical drama television series filmed in 2000, was set in Pyongyang Maternity Hospital. The hospital has commonly appeared in Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) news articles. Many of these news stories are about cases of triplets, and North Koreans are fascinated by triple births. When asked to explain this fascination, the doctors of the hospital explained that the third baby needs extra care as women only have two breasts for two children. As a result, the government provides help for mothers of triplets. It is thought that triplets are an omen for national prosperity. ==Awards==

Pyongyang Maternity Hospital and North Pyongan Provincial Maternity Hospital were awarded plaques declaring them a Baby-Friendly Hospital on 5 February 2009 by the UNICEF Thailand office for attaining all ten targets of breastfeeding set by WHO and UNICEF. A reassessment in late 2008 indicated that the hospitals had met the targets. However, South Pyongan Provincial Maternity Hospital, a new candidate for the award, did not meet the breastfeeding standards. Previously the Pyongyang Maternity Hospital and North Pyongan Provincial Maternity Hospital had been awarded in 1996. Director Kim Song-hui stated that in addition to health workers, both community-based and nursery workers will help mothers maintain breastfeeding after their hospital discharge. It was planned that by the end of 2009, there would be seven baby-friendly hospitals in North Korea. ==See also==