Living in Korea

HOME > Living in Korea > Pregnancy and Childbirth> Infant Health Management

Infant Health Management

Children go through rapid physical development during infancy and can easily contract diseases due to a significant drop in the immunity acquired from their mother. Infants can obtain healthcare and essential vaccinations for free at public health centers.

01 Stages of Infant Development

(1) Weight

3kg at birth, 6kg after 6 months, 9 kg after a year

(2) Height

50cm at birth, 75cm after a year

(3) Physical Development

Physical Development
4 months	Can control head and can twist from side to side while lying down
5 months	Can turn over (from stomach to back)
6 months	Can turn from back to stomach and can push up with both arms while lying flat
7 months	Can sit with assistance
8 months	Can sit without assistance
9 months	Crawls
10 months	Can stand up with support (e.g. furniture)
12 months	Can walk with support

Useful Information

Childcare conflict

In raising a child, you may experience conflict with family members due to differences in opinions onchildrearing. These conflicts are common between parents-in-law and young couples. Talk throughthe conflict with your parents-in-law.

Examples of conflicts

Feed when the child is hungry. ↔ Feed at regular times.
Feed a lot, even if the child becomes chubby. ↔ Always feed the correct amount.
Carry child on your back if he or she cries. ↔ Carrying the child on your back turns into a bad habit.
Feeding cold milk makes the stomach stronger. ↔ Cold food irritates the stomach.

02 Vaccinations

Vaccinations protect your baby from communicable diseases by developing the baby's immunity.

(1) Precautions before Vaccination

Receive vaccinations on the day when the baby is in good health.
Check for designated vaccination medical institutes and get vaccinations at a nearby medical institution.
It is advisable to make an appointment in advance so as to avoid congested hours and not wait long.
Drink plenty of water while waiting and relax.
Inform the service person of present symptoms or chronic conditions, if any, at the time of preliminary examination.
Make sure vaccinations are received before noon, so that it is easier to return to the hospital if there are any complications.
Present your vaccination diary to check and manage the child’s vaccination records.
- Vaccination records are managed by computer system. This is to check for any missed out vaccination information and provide vaccinations according to schedule.
Take your vaccination diary to check, record, and manage the child’s vaccination dates.
- Vaccination records are managed by computer system. This is only to double-check for any missed out vaccination information.
Give your child a bath, and put him or her in clean clothes before visiting the doctor.
Make sure the child’s primary caregiver takes the child for his/her vaccination.

(2) Precautions after Vaccination

Observe the child for 20 to 30 minutes after the vaccination at the medical institution to check for any complications before returning home.
Have your child rest on the day of the vaccination, and observe its state closely for two to three days after the vaccination.
There may be slight symptoms such as pain around the vaccinated area, red swelling, edema or muscle pain, fever, nausea, etc. However, most symptoms will improve in one or two days.
If there is a high fever, difficulty in breathing, rashes, severe dizziness, etc., see a doctor immediately.
- If the child keeps fretting, does not eat, or seems different from usual, see a doctor.
Keep the vaccinated area clean

03 National Vaccination Support for Children

To increase the immunization rates and establish a foundation for the eradication of vaccinated infectious diseases, the government supports the entire cost (vaccination fee and implementation cost) for 17 types of vaccination to children under the age of 12 years.

(1) National Vaccination Support Program for Children

To increase the immunization rates and protect citizens from infectious diseases, the government supports the entire costs for 17 types of vaccination to children under the age of 12 years.

Supported Target: Children under the age of 12

Target: Children under the age of 12
Free vaccination centers: Public healthcare centers and designated healthcare organizations
Children with resident registration numbers and alien registration numbers (including exemptions)are qualified to receive free vaccinations at public health centers or the nearest designated healthcareorganization. Foreigners who stayed in Korea for more than 3 months and have not registered asaliens can also get free vaccinations at public health centers if they present documents (passports)proving their personal identity at public health centers and receive identity numbers for vaccinations.
- When a foreigner with an identity number wants to get a vaccination from a medical institution, he or she must pay the full amount.
- For designated healthcare organizations, please visit the website of the National Inoculation Program (https://nip.cdc.go.kr) → Vaccination management for my child → Find medical institution (Also available on the mobile app)

Immunization Schedule for Children (2020)

Immunization Schedule for Children (2020)
Type	Supported infectious diseases	Types of vaccines	Number of vacci-nations	Birth ~ 1 month	1 month	2 months	4 months	6 months	12 months	15 months	24~ 35 months	4 years	6 years	11 years	12 years
Na- tional Vacci- nations 1)	Tuber- culosis	BCG (intradermal)	1	1 time
	Hepatitis B	HepB	3	1st time	2nd time			3rd time
	Diphtheria · tetanus · pertussis	DTaP	5			1st time	2nd time	3rd time		4th time		5th time
	Diphtheria · tetanus · pertussis	Tdap/Td	1											6th time
	Polio- myelitis	IPV	4			1st time	2nd time	3rd time				4th time
	Haemophilus influenzae type b	Hib	4			1st time	2nd time	3rd time	4th time
	Pneumo- coccus	PCV	4			1st time	2nd time	3rd time	4th time
	Pneumo- coccus	PPSV	-								Only for high-risk groups
	Measles · Mumps · Rubella	MMR	2						1st time			2nd time
	Varicella	VAR	1						1time
	Hepatitis A	HepA	2						1st to 2nd time
	Japanese enceph- alitis	IJEV (Inactive vaccine)	5						1st to 2nd time		3rd time		4th time		5th time
	Japanese enceph- alitis	LJEV (Attenuated live vaccine)	2						1st time		2nd time
	Human papillo- mavirus infection	HPV	2												1st to 2nd time
	Influenza	IIV	-					Every year
Other Vacci- nations 2)	Rotaviral infection	RV1	2			1st time	2nd time
Other Vacci- nations 2)	Rotaviral infection	RV5	3			1st time	2nd time	3rd time

DTaP, IPV, and Hib vaccines can be inoculated with DTaP-IPV mixed vaccine or DTaP-IPV/Hib mixed vaccine according to the inoculation schedule
Some vaccines can be inoculated on later dates after consulting with a doctor when the recommended schedule is delayed
1) National Vaccinations: Vaccination recommended by the government (Korean government decides on the infectious diseases,standards for, and methods of conducting vaccinations through the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, and securesfinances for support based on the Act)
2) Other Vaccinations: Charged vaccination for infectious diseases other than those in national vaccination program or designatedinfectious diseases, can be vaccinated at private medical organizations

Other vaccination services

Vaccination history
The National Inoculation Program website (https://nip.cdc.go.kr) and mobile application providesvarious kinds of information on vaccinations. You can also check your child’s vaccination history.
- To use the National Inoculation Program website or mobile app, you need to first register viathe National Inoculation Program website and fill in your child’s information.
- Log in to the National Inoculation Program website → Vaccination Management → Vaccination management for my child → Register the child’s information → View the child’s vaccination history
- Log into the National Inoculation Program mobile app → Vaccination for my child → Baby diary
Free issuance of vaccination certificate
You can obtain (print out) a vaccination certificate (Korean and English) from the National Inoculation Program website.
- An authentication certificate is required for issuance of a vaccination certificate
Vaccination Notification Text Messaging Service
This is a service to remind recipients about their next vaccination date. People who agree to receivetext messages on mobile phones can get text messages on advance notifications and missedvaccinations according to vaccination schedule.
If you want to receive a text messages in a foreign language, you need to request your desiredlanguage at a public health center or a vaccination institute. In this case, you can add extra phonenumbers to receive the text messages in the desired language.
- The messages will be sent to the existing number if there are no additional mobile phone numbers.
- Multi-language service (12 languages): Nepali, Lao, Russian, Mongolian, Vietnamese, English, Uzbek, Japanese, Chinese, Cambodian, Thai, Filipino

(2) Project to Prevent Newborn Babies from Having Hepatitis B in thePerinatal Period

This program prevents newborn babies whose mothers have Hepatitis B from acquiring Hepatitis B in the perinatal stage. All expenses necessary for preventive measures and antigen and antibody tests are covered.

Prenatal period: Before and after birth (29th week of gestation ~ 1 week after birth)

Eligibility and Application

Eligibility: newborns of mothers positive for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) or Hepatitis Be-antigen (HbeAg)
The recipient submits test results of Hepatitis B and the agreement for personal information collection to the medical institution participating
- When you fill out the agreement for personal information collection and request for message service, you can receive text messages for Hepatitis B vaccination and schedule

Preventive Treatment Schedule

(Immediately after birth (within 12 hours)) Immunoglobulin and first Hepatitis B vaccination
- A total of four doses of the vaccination are given to preterm infants born at less than 37 weeks of pregnancy with a birth weight less than 2kg (at month 0, 1, 2, 6)
(Between 1 and 6 months of age) 2nd and 3rd Hepatitis B vaccinations
(Between 9 months and 15 months) first antigen and antibody test of Hepatitis B
- Depending on the initial results for first antigen and antibody test of Hepatitis B, all expenses will be paid for revaccination (up to 3 times) and re-inspection (up to 2 times)

본 저작물은 '한국건강가정진흥원'에서 '2020년' 작성하여 공공누리 제4유형으로 개방한 '한국생활가이드북'을 이용하였으며, 해당 저작물은 '한국건강가정진흥원, www.kihf.or.kr' 에서 무료로 다운받으실 수 있습니다.