Studies on Maternal Care for Postpartum Women in Korea
What measures need to be taken to improve postpartum care for mothers and infants? We first need to take a look at the 3 types of nursery care facilities in Korea, as well as, what studies of mothers and infants in Korea reveal to us about the benefits of rooming-in. This will allow us to gain a better perspective on how we can improve our healthcare systems around the world.
The 3 types of nursery care facilities in Korea
“There are three types of nursery care facilities in Korea. First, completely separated nursery room between mother’s and baby’s. In this circumstance, mothers can spend time with their babies at limited meeting times for several minutes during their hospital stay. The entire course of care is given in the nursery room only. Second, partial rooming-in with mothers. Rooming-in nursery service gives opportunity for babies to spend time with their mothers during their hospital stay, and the partial rooming-in gives not full time but partial time in a day for them because main procedures are taken in the nursery room not the mother’s room…Last type of care is complete rooming-in care of babies and mothers. This nursery practice gives care for baby in the same room with mother from their time of birth to their discharge from the hospital,” (1).
Studies reveal the benefits of rooming-In services in Korea
Lee, et al. (2010) published the results of a three-year, large-scale study of 860 neonates “required to be under rooming-in service”, with 9.7% who were excluded from the study due to either infant or maternal health concerns. The authors found an increased rate of exclusive breastfeeding (64%) as well as an increase in “mixed feeding” of formula less than three times per day (26%), “If only some more intervention can be provided, breastfeeding rate will be increased.”
In their conclusion, they emphasized that “nursery facilities should educate and encourage the advantages of rooming-in such as good formation of attachment between mother and infant, emotional stability (maternal), protection from infection (infant), and increased breastfeeding rate…”.
Final Thoughts...
What is the “norm” in your area of the world? Are you seeing more facilities promoting full-time rooming-in of mother and infant? If not, what are the obstacles to this evidence-based care recommendation and requirement for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI)? What do the staff say and what do new parents say about rooming-in? If you found this post insightful then you may also be interested in a previous post that reveals The World’s Largest Breastfeeding Support Groups For Women & Children.
Stay safe,
Kathy
Referrences
- Lee, Y.M., Song, K.H., Kim, Y.M., Kang, J.S., Chang, J.Y., Seol, H.J., Choi, Y.S., and Bae, C.W. (2009). Complete rooming-in care of newborn infants. Korean J Pediatr; 53(5): 634-638. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21189929/
