<p>This week’s episode takes the long way around one deceptively simple idea: after birth, mothers need care.</p><p>We begin with Korea’s <em>sanhujori</em> (산후조리) and follow what happens when an old postpartum instinct of warmth, rest, and nourishment becomes a modern system: the <em>joriwon</em>, or postpartum care center. </p><p>Along the way, I take a quick world tour through China’s <em>zuo yuezi</em> (坐月子), Japan’s <em>satogaeri bunben</em> (里帰り分娩), and the Dutch tradition of <em>kraamzorg</em> — and yes, I’m spelling them out here in case my Korean tongue committed a few minor international offenses while pronouncing them out loud.</p><p>This episode also includes something I do not take lightly: a frank conversation about what pregnancy and childbirth actually cost women’s bodies, and why that conversation is so rarely had. </p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://yoonjiwon.substack.com/p/korean-postpartum-care-2">This week’s newsletter</a> covers different ground, including my own story of cobbling together a Korean postpartum recovery in America. </p><p>Read that, then come listen to this. They travel different roads, but they arrive at the same question.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://yoonjiwon.substack.com/">🎧 </a><a target="_blank" href="https://yoonjiwon.substack.com/"><em>Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time</em></a><a target="_blank" href="https://yoonjiwon.substack.com/"> </a>is available wherever you get your podcasts.</p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time at <a href="https://yoonjiwon.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">yoonjiwon.substack.com/subscribe</a>