Mom, newborn and the supermom called confinement center

The staff of a high-end maternity hospital in Beijing hold a small party for the mother and her newborn baby. Such hospitals are becoming increasingly popular in big cities.[Provided to China Daily]

These days, Chinese moms like to receive postnatal care at expensive confinement centers. With China relaxing its 35-year-old single-child policy to allow couples to have two children, expectations of a baby boom are raising hopes for the confinement center business.

There was a time when Chinese moms would stay at home for a month or two after giving birth, a recovery period called zuo yuezi. With China's vast middle class enjoying increased purchasing power, many families are willing to hire specialist firms that offer postpartum care for both the mom and the baby.

Instead of asking her parents for help or hiring a nanny, Zhang Fan, a 29-year-old new mom in Beijing, signed up for a 144,000 yuan ($22,230), 28-day postpartum service of Carebay Maternity Care Service.

The service includes six meals a day, routine daily checkups, breast massage to produce milk for the newborn, baby care, wound care as well as regular medical checkups by top-level maternity hospitals in the city.

"I thought of hiring a yuesao (a live-in postpartum care worker who takes care of the mom and the newborn), but the confinement centers are more professional. Some of the checkups and guidance are conducted by professional doctors, who I trust better.

"Some practices in postpartum care and baby care by parents are very misleading, especially those like shaving a newborn's head one month after birth and not allowing new moms to take shower for a month," said Zhang.

She said a maternity doctor from a hospital is likely to be more professional, and thus more trustworthy.

According to the website of Carebay Maternity Care Service, a Beijing-based confinement center, the cost of its services ranges from 90,000 yuan to 140,000 yuan.

HaiMoniCare Beijing Women and Children Hospital provides an 80,000-yuan, 28-day postpartum service and Baodao Healthcare offers various packages from 126,000 yuan to 156,000 yuan.

Wang Yue, a salesperson of a Tianjin-based confinement center, said many moms care more about professional healthcare services than the price.

Staying at a confinement center used to be fashionable among new moms in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and the practice has been gaining in popularity in the Chinese mainland in recent years, she said.

To meet the needs of wealthy, shape-conscious clients, many confinement centers offer, in addition to the basic mom care and baby care, supplementary services like yoga classes, physical recovery training. Again, such premium services are well sought after, said Wang.