Strengthening Overseas Expansion of 'K-Sanhujori'... Improving Domestic Workforce Standards

Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting and Export Investment Countermeasures Meeting

The government will relax regulations on the number of nurses in postpartum care facilities and begin market analysis in various countries to export the 'K-Postpartum Care Culture.'

On the 27th, the government held an emergency economic ministers' meeting and export investment countermeasure meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho at the Seoul Government Complex to discuss the 'Living Proximity Service Development Plan' containing these details.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho is delivering opening remarks at the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting and Export Investment Measures Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 27th. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

According to the government, postpartum care services are a field with high demand from mothers due to nuclear family structures and aging mothers, with the utilization rate of postpartum care centers reaching 81.2% as of 2021. Postpartum care has become one of the essential services for mothers, but support from an industrial development perspective, such as improving service quality and promoting exports, has been insufficient. Accordingly, the government has selected postpartum care services as a primary living proximity service and plans to prepare support measures by industry by gathering field opinions through industry meetings.

First, a research project will be conducted to improve the staffing standards of postpartum care centers. The current standards restrict postpartum and newborn care personnel to nurses and nursing assistants to ensure safety, and require nurses to be on duty at all times. To increase consumer satisfaction, the government plans to revise the Maternal and Child Health Act to make it mandatory for the Ministry of Health and Welfare to evaluate the staffing and facility safety of postpartum care centers.

(Photo by Getty Images Bank)

Provision of commercial district information for postpartum care centers will also be strengthened. Until now, information necessary for starting and managing postpartum care centers, such as commercial district analysis, industry information, and related industry trends, has been very limited. In the future, new information necessary for starting and managing postpartum care centers will be provided through a big data-based commercial district information system. The current status of services provided by postpartum care centers will be analyzed, and new service manuals such as depression management and early childcare education will be developed.

The government is also considering creating an information platform that allows consumers to compare prices and information of postpartum care centers and helper companies. Guidelines including requirements and scope of medical consultation services within postpartum care centers will be prepared by next year. In the long term, the government plans to make the evaluation system for postpartum care centers mandatory and consider providing incentives to postpartum care centers with excellent evaluations.

Ways to expand Korea's postpartum care culture overseas will also be explored. Although there is industry demand for overseas expansion, with some postpartum care centers entering markets such as China and the United States, systematic information for this is lacking. The government will assist market research to enable postpartum care centers to enter countries such as China, the United States, Mongolia, and Vietnam, and to create synergy effects, will form consortia with related industries such as hospitals and childcare products. When going overseas, additional points will be awarded during evaluations of overseas expansion support projects for medical institutions.