December 27, 2024
SEOUL – Fees for postpartum care centers located in Seoul on average cost 4.78 million won for two weeks, ($3,270), Seoul city government said Thursday.
Known as “joriwon,” these recovery centers focus on supporting new mothers’ recovery after childbirth. Nurses and professionals care for the newborns full-time, while providing essential guidance to help the mothers care for the babies.
The 4.78 million service fee in Seoul is 1.31 million won more than the nationwide average of 3.47 million won, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s report based on its July-September survey on service fees for all 110 private-run centers in Seoul.
It was found that standard rooms on average cost 4.78 million won for two weeks, while deluxe rooms cost 7.64 million won for the same period. Both prices are substantially higher than the average charge of 2.3 million won for a room at state-run care centers in the city.
Only 35 percent of the 110 centers revealed detailed information on their additional service charges on their homepage. Article 15 of the Mother and Child Health Act states that these facilities must post the details of their services and fees on their websites, a violation of which is to be punished by administrative fines.
In many cases, the postnatal centers gave an approximate estimate of the user fees and added that the final charges could differ depending on factors like the mother’s physical condition or the payment method.
The majority of the recent disputes between postnatal centers and users were related to user fees, a Korea Consumer Agency report earlier this year showed. Of the 980 customer complaints filed between January 2021 and March 2024, 50.5 percent were over cancellation and related fees, while 18.5 percent were about complaints over the center not following the contract.
Some care centers were reported to have a clause refusing a refund if the mother decides to leave early outside the specific fault of the centers’ workers.
The Seoul government plans to address complaints related to the postpartum centers, namely by filing for deliberation of the clauses that are deemed unfair to the users with the Korea Fair Trade Commission. It will also report to the Ministry of Health and Welfare violations of the user fee notification.
The results of the city’s recent survey will be posted on its homepage.