Jungnang-gu Supports Up to 90% of Postpartum Care Helper Costs... Highest Among Seoul Districts

Published 30 Jan.2021 20:49(KST)

Support up to 90% of out-of-pocket costs for mothers or spouses residing in Jungnang-gu for over 1 year regardless of income criteria
...Online application from 40 days before to 30 days after the expected delivery date...Strengthening public systems for childcare support to realize a better Jungnang for having and raising children

Jungnang-gu Supports Up to 90% of Postpartum Care Helper Costs... Highest Among Seoul Districts

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) supports postpartum care assistant costs up to 90%, the highest level among Seoul's autonomous districts, regardless of income criteria.

The support targets mothers or their spouses who have resided in Jungnang-gu for more than one year as of the application date. Applications can be made from 40 days before the expected delivery date up to 30 days after childbirth.

The average out-of-pocket cost is affordable, ranging from 30,000 to 140,000 KRW. For example, if the service cost for 10 days results in an out-of-pocket expense of about 520,000 KRW, the applicant only needs to pay 52,000 KRW after the district covers 90% of the total cost.

The operation is conducted by the mother using postpartum care services, the service provider billing the public health center, and the health center transferring the cost to the mother's account.

To protect mothers' health from COVID-19, applications are accepted through a non-face-to-face method.

Applicants can apply via the 'Bokjiro' website, and the public health center will guide the subsequent procedures through individual phone calls.

For other inquiries, contact the Jungnang-gu Public Health Center.

The postpartum care assistant support service can be used immediately without waiting and has maintained steady popularity, with a total of 2,435 users from 2018 to 2020.

The district plans to invest 2.6 billion KRW over the next five years to expand one-stop services from pre-pregnancy to postpartum care.

Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi of Jungnang-gu said, "Strengthening public systems for childcare support is a priority to address the low birthrate issue," adding, "We will do our best to make Jungnang a great place to have and raise children."

This year, the district is supporting 1,136 pregnant women with eco-friendly agricultural produce packages and operates 12 community childcare rooms, which are childcare community spaces for infants and young children.

Additionally, to provide life-oriented services to residents, various childcare support projects are underway, including the 'Chat-tori' service that delivers toys from the three currently operating toy libraries directly to homes.