Sokcho City Accelerates Opening of Public Postpartum Care Center This Year... Launches Childbirth and Childcare Cluster Initiative

Sokcho City Linking Postpartum Care Center and Aitodak Center
BF Official Certification in Progress... Accelerating Toward a "City Friendly for Childbirth"
Taking Steps Toward Becoming a City Where It Is Easier to Have and Raise Children

The Sokcho Public Postpartum Care Center, a topic of great interest among expectant mothers in the northern Yeongdong region, is accelerating its preparations for opening, including undergoing the on-site assessment for official Barrier Free (BF) certification.

Bird's-eye view of the public postpartum care center. Provided by Sokcho City

The Sokcho Public Postpartum Care Center was newly constructed at 184 Yeongrang-dong, with a total project cost of 7.8 billion won. The facility is a three-story building with a total floor area of 903 square meters. On October 29, it underwent the official on-site BF (Barrier Free) certification assessment.

The BF certification is a system in which a specialized agency evaluates whether various public facilities, including buildings and transportation, are accessible, usable, and safe for everyone, and then assigns a grade. The certification process consists of two stages: preliminary certification at the design stage and official certification after construction is completed.

Sokcho City is currently working on follow-up measures to address the requirements for official certification, aiming to open the center by the end of this year or, at the latest, early next year.

The postpartum care center, which began construction in August last year, has now completed most of its preparations for opening, including selecting an operator, recruiting professional staff, purchasing and installing operational supplies, and conducting pre-opening safety inspections of the facilities. In early October, an official website was launched, and once the reservation system is established, the website will be operational. Additionally, a KakaoTalk channel named "Sokcho Public Postpartum Care Center" has been created to provide various information.

The interior of the center includes 10 rooms for mothers, a newborn room, a breastfeeding room, a program room, and a health management room, among other facilities.

The establishment of the Sokcho Postpartum Care Center is part of the "Safe City for Childbirth and Parenting in Sokcho" initiative. The center aims to resolve the difficulties faced by mothers in Sokcho who previously had to seek postpartum care in other regions due to the lack of such facilities, and to create a healthy environment for newborn care.

Once the center opens, it will be available not only to residents of Sokcho but also to mothers living in the Seorak region, providing significant support for postpartum care in neighboring areas as well.

Certain groups, such as vulnerable populations, as well as mothers residing in Sokcho and the Seorak region, will receive a partial reduction in usage fees according to specific conditions.

The postpartum care center is located adjacent to the only public obstetrics and gynecology clinic in the northern Yeongdong region, raising expectations for improved childbirth environments and an overall increase in the regional birth rate. Furthermore, with the planned connection to the new Integrated Childcare Support Center (tentatively named "Aitodak Center") being built by Sokcho City at 148-134 Yeongrang-dong and three other lots, a cluster will be formed that links childbirth, postpartum care, and childcare, bringing Sokcho one step closer to becoming a city where it is easier to have and raise children.

The Integrated Childcare Support Center is a project promoted by Sokcho City after being selected for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's 2024 regional customized marriage-childbirth-childcare integrated support center project. The new center, scheduled for completion by the end of 2028, will be built on a 3,306-square-meter site with four above-ground floors, and will include an integrated operation support center, child care classrooms, a health room, a children's book cafe, and an indoor playground.

Lee Byeongseon, Mayor of Sokcho, stated, "The Sokcho City Public Postpartum Care Center will play a positive role in reducing the social and economic burdens of families with newborns in the community and in making Sokcho a better place to have and raise children, thanks to expert postpartum recovery and newborn care services, a variety of health management programs, support for psychological and emotional recovery after childbirth, affordable fees, and excellent facilities."