Tender loving care: A room at Anidar, a postpartum care centre or joriwon, in Seoul. Eight out of 10 Korean new mums go to a joriwon for some pampering after giving birth. — Photos: ©2024 The New York Times Company
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 mum returned to her private room to sleep.
Sleep is just one of the luxuries provided by South Korea’s postpartum care centres.
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