Every new mom goes through the “fourth trimester,” a period up to six weeks after childbirth to recover her body to a pre-pregnancy state. It is dealt with in various ways across cultures, from family members stepping in to help, and national healthcare programs providing support, to women individually dealing with it without support. In most Asian countries, and Korea specifically, postnatal care used to be considered an intra-familial affair in which new mothers were helped by their mothers or mothers-in-law. However, this long-held tradition has waned substantially, with social changes such as urbanization and a focus on nuclear families leaving new moms struggling to get the care they need. Who is going to fill the role of providing attentive care for new moms and newborns? The case titled, “A Club Med for New Moms and Newborns: The Postpartum Care Center in Korea,” illustrates how a new market opportunity can be captured that unearths the unmet needs of postpartum mothers. This case study examines the emergence and evolution of postpartum care centers in South Korea as a new market solution addressing the unlocked demand for postpartum care and creating an unprecedented experience of physical and psychological recovery for new moms while they learn essential baby care skills. The result is that over two-thirds of Korean mothers choose to stay at such retreats for more than a week before bringing their baby home, despite the hefty price tag. This business model has been rolling out to neighboring Asian countries like China and Taiwan, and now even to the United States. The case delves into how a half-billion-dollar market was created by unearthing taken-for-granted issues that had gone unnoticed in the existing healthcare industry. Postpartum care centers are a nondisruptive creation beyond existing healthcare industry boundaries that do not involve technological innovation but achieve value innovation across healthcare, hospitality, and education. The case probes opportunities and risks in rolling out the Korean business model in the United States, in which different traditions and market conditions exist
A new market opportunity can be captured by uncovering taken-for-granted problems and challenging existing assumptions. By defying existing assumptions that require new mothers to set aside their physical and psychological pain to focus on baby care, a new way of transitioning between the hospital and home appealed to new parents. 2.Customs and traditions that support nonmarket situations can be turned into a blue ocean opportunity as conditions shift. Traditional intra-family postpartum care in Korea became neither desired nor available as the society went through rapid urbanization. A new business opportunity was created as huge untapped demand for professional postpartum care arose. 3. In creating the business model for the postpartum care center, insight was gleaned by looking across not only the healthcare (hospital) industry but also hospitality (hotel) and education (baby care community), leading to the creation of an unprecedented all-inclusive package of postpartum care for new mothers. 4.The creation and growth of the postpartum care center market unlocked positive-sum outcomes, economically and socially. This brand-new offering did not disrupt or replace an existing market. It provided a market solution for a nonmarket tradition that was on the wane. 5.Rolling out the business model into different geographic markets may require reconfigurations at the margin of value, profit, and people propositions to reflect cultural, societal, and regulatory differences.
- Postpartum
- Postnatal
- Maternal care
- New market
- Value Innovation
- Market opportunity
- Baby
- Nondisruptive creation
- Business model expansion
- Blue ocean
- Wellness
- Q42024