Screenshot from Kim Ji-young’s Instagram.

Influencer Kim Ji-young, known from ‘Heart Signal 4’, candidly shared her thoughts on postpartum care centers and pregnancy.

On the 11th, Kim Ji-young uploaded a video to her YouTube channel titled ‘The day I booked a postpartum care center at 12 weeks pregnant and took a finance lecture from my husband’. In the video, she met an acquaintance she had worked with during her flight attendant days and shared the behind-the-scenes story of reserving a care center early in pregnancy.

When the acquaintance asked, “Does it feel real that you’re going to have a baby?”, Kim replied, “I’m pretty even-tempered by nature, so it hasn’t really sunk in yet. Still, I think I’ll be excited, and the responsibility will feel heavy.”

YouTube ‘Kim Ji-young’ screenshot.

She then addressed the culture around postpartum care centers. Kim said, “There’s even a ‘postpartum care center cohort’ culture,” adding, “I didn’t like that, so I chose a place without that kind of culture.” On-screen captions in the video also read, “That cohort culture… just thinking about it makes me want to avoid it.”

Regarding when to make a reservation, she emphasized, “If you don’t do it early, there are no spots.” Kim said, “At 8 weeks pregnant, there was a care center I wanted to go to, but reservations had already closed.”

She also frankly shared the burden of the high costs. “The care centers were so expensive that I was startled,” she said, adding, “I researched a lot to find a place that didn’t exceed 10 million won.”

YouTube ‘Kim Ji-young’ screenshot.

Kim also spoke about perceptions of pregnancy in Korea. She said, “In Korea, there are especially many things you’re told not to do when you’re pregnant,” and, “Korea seems unusually conservative and fussy about pregnancy.” She added, “It’s fine for a mother to be careful on her own, but there are many times you feel you have to be even more cautious because of how others look at you.”

She also offered a message of support to expectant mothers, saying, “Moms who are busy with work don’t need to feel guilty.”

Meanwhile, Kim Ji-young became known to the public through ‘Heart Signal 4’, which aired in 2023. She later announced her marriage along with news of a premarital pregnancy, and held her wedding with Yoon Soo-young this past February. Yoon is known as the founder of the paid book-club community Trevari.