Naju City in Jeollanam-do announced on the 28th that starting in April, it will provide a ‘Household Care Service’ to all families with pregnant women expecting childbirth.
The household care for pregnant women is a new policy under the 8th local government administration, dispatching domestic workers to pregnant women’s homes to assist with household chores such as cleaning, organizing and storage, dishwashing, and laundry.
After childbirth, support policies had been focused on newborns, but this service was developed to expand support to pregnant women and promote a healthy pregnancy.
The existing eligibility conditions for the household care service, which were limited to families with pregnant women who had lived in the area for more than six months or were classified as high-risk, expecting a second child or more, multiple births, or with disabilities, will be completely abolished starting next month.
The previous limit of 300 beneficiaries on a first-come, first-served basis will also be removed so that all families with pregnant women in the jurisdiction can benefit from the service.
The removal of eligibility conditions is a measure to strengthen universal birth support services and is expected to receive strong positive responses, especially from families with pregnant women expecting their first child.
Over the past five years, first-born children have accounted for about 52% of all births in Naju City on average, but household care services could only be applied for from the second child onward, so many did not receive benefits.
With the removal of eligibility conditions, from April 1, all families with pregnant women will be able to enjoy the benefits regardless of whether it is their first or second child.
The household care service dispatches professional domestic workers for a total of five sessions, each lasting three hours, to assist with various household chores such as cleaning, laundry, and organizing and storage.
The city has completed consultations with the Ministry of Health and Welfare regarding changes to the social security system to expand the service and has additionally secured a budget of 85 million KRW.
Also, to accommodate pregnant women with mobility difficulties, an online non-face-to-face application system called ‘Naju Helper’ web was developed in collaboration with the Jeonnam Information & Culture Industry Promotion Agency and the Korea Internet & Security Agency, allowing applications via the website instead of visiting the public health center.
Mayor Yoon Byung-tae of Naju said, “We expect that by abolishing the eligibility conditions for the household care service, all families with pregnant women will reduce their household burdens and lead healthy pregnancies,” adding, “We will do our best to make Naju a city where it is good to give birth and raise children through customized pregnancy and childbirth support policies for each stage, from before pregnancy to pregnancy and after childbirth.”
Meanwhile, the Naju Public Health Center supports ‘infertile couples’ treatments (up to 1.5 million KRW) and examination fees (up to 300,000 KRW) before pregnancy, free prenatal tests for women of childbearing age, and health checkups for newlyweds and prospective couples.
During pregnancy, it provides ‘prenatal vitamins,’ ‘pregnant women’s health promotion programs,’ and ‘medical expenses for teenage mothers (up to 1.2 million KRW)’ to support fetal development and healthy childbirth.
For families welcoming new life through childbirth, the city offers a wide range of support including childbirth incentives, up to 70% discount on public postpartum care center fees, medical expenses for high-risk pregnant women (up to 3 million KRW), ‘First Meeting Voucher’ (cash voucher worth 2 million KRW), childbirth congratulatory goods, medical expenses for premature and congenital anomaly infants (up to 5 to 10 million KRW), support for congenital metabolic disorder screening fees (250,000 KRW annually) and patient management, congenital hearing loss screening fees and hearing aids (up to 2.62 million KRW), and diapers and formula for low-income families.
Naju = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Yukbong baekok@asiae.co.kr
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