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'Inequality in childbirth costs': Price for postpartum care centers vary as much as 33.5 times

Published: 10 Oct. 2025, 14:44

Nurses take care of newborns at a public postpartum care center in Seoul on Dec. 26, 2023. [YONHAP]

The cost of using postpartum care centers in Korea varies by as much as 33.5 times, with the most expensive two-week stay priced at 40.2 million won ($28,300) and the cheapest at 1.2 million won, according to government data released on Friday.

Democratic Party Rep. Nam In-soon, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, disclosed nationwide data submitted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on postnatal care center fees as of June.

In southern Seoul’s wealthy Gangnam District, two centers charged 17 million won for a two-week stay in a standard room, the highest rate in the country.

The lowest rate was found at a care center in Gunsan, North Jeolla at 1.2 million won. For premium rooms, the most expensive was one in Gangnam at 40.2 million won, while the least expensive was a public facility in Gangjin County, South Jeolla at 1.54 million won.

The top premium room fee rose 1.5 times from 26 million won in 2021.

Seven of the ten most expensive centers for standard rooms were located in Gangnam, while the remaining three were in Yongsan District in central Seoul, Gangseo District in western Seoul and Seongnam, Gyeonggi.

The average cost among the top ten centers was 12.6 million won — about 8.4 times higher than the bottom 10, which averaged 1.5 million won. Six of the ten least expensive centers were public facilities.

Eight out of ten new mothers used a postnatal care center in 2024, according to the Health Ministry’s postnatal care statistics. However, the number of facilities has dropped from 519 in 2021 to 460 in 2024.

Over the same period, the average cost for a standard room rose from 2.32 million won to 3.55 million won.

A public postpartum center opened in South Chungcheong in early 2022. [SOUTH CHUNGCHEONG]

“With fewer facilities and rising costs, mothers' right to choose appropriate postnatal care based on their financial situation is becoming increasingly restricted,” Nam said.

The lawmaker added that the average fee at public postnatal care centers is around 1.74 million won — half the price of private facilities — but there are only 21 public centers nationwide.

“The government should expand public postnatal care centers so that mothers can access high-quality services at more reasonable prices,” she said.

The data also shows the most requested childbirth-related policy among mothers was “financial support for postnatal care costs,” cited by 60.1 percent of respondents. The most important factor when choosing a postnatal care center was “distance from home or hospital,” named by 59.1 percent of respondents, followed by “quality of facilities and programs relative to price” at 32.5 percent and “low cost” at 19.9 percent.

Nam emphasized that “public postnatal care centers still provide quality services at about half the cost of private ones, but they make up less than 5 percent of all centers.”

She urged both the government and local authorities to expand public centers “to reduce inequality in childbirth costs and address the nation’s low birthrate.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY RHEE ESTHER [[email protected]]