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       South Korea Dispatch

       For New Moms in Seoul, 3 Weeks of Pampering and Sleep at a Joriwon

       Some new mothers say postpartum care centers are the best part of childbirth in South Korea, where fewer people are deciding to have children because of high costs.

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       A room at Anidar, a postpartum care center, or joriwon, in Seoul. At these centers, mothers are provided with hotel-like accommodations, facials, massage, child-care classes and nurses who watch over the babies around the clock. Credit...Jean Chung for The New York Times

       By Lauretta Charlton

       Lauretta Charlton, an editor at The New York Times, recently gave birth in South Korea and spent two weeks at St. Park, a postpartum care center, or joriwon, in Seoul as part of her reporting for this article.

       Jan. 28, 2024, 12:01 a.m. ET

       Four mothers sat quietly in the nursing room around midnight, breastfeeding their newborn babies. As one mother nodded off, her eyelids heavy after giving birth less than two weeks earlier, a nurse came in and whisked her baby away. The exhausted new mom returned to her private room to sleep.

       Sleep is just one of the luxuries provided by South Korea’s postpartum care centers.

       The country may have the world’s lowest birthrate, but it is also home to perhaps some of its best postpartum care. At centers like St. Park, a small, boutique postpartum center, or joriwon, in Seoul, new moms are pampered for a few weeks after giving birth and treated to hotel-like accommodations.

       Fresh meals are delivered three times a day, and there are facials, massages and child-care classes. Nurses watch over the babies around the clock.

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       Robes for mothers on display at Anidar. Credit...Jean Chung for The New York Times

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       Staff taking care of newborn babies at St. Park. Credit...Jean Chung for The New York Times

       New moms are summoned from their rooms only when it is time to breastfeed in the communal nursing room, where they are watched by the nurses. Women who choose not to breastfeed are free to spend their time focused on healing. (The babies are kept in the nursery throughout the day, though mothers can request their newborns be sent to their rooms at any time.)

       Staying at a joriwon can cost from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the length of stay, which is often 21 days, the amount of time it takes for a woman’s body to heal after childbirth, according to Korean custom. But the centers weren’t always so luxurious, said Soohyun Sarah Kim, 46, the owner of St. Park.

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