The Best of “Birthcare Center”

Whenever we hear the word “mom,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Home? Affection? Warmth? We all have our own perspective of mothers, and while most of the general public views motherhood as the noblest of all, it’s an entirely different world when you’re the one experiencing it. Even the world’s most influential have mothers who take care of them, and the vilest criminals have mothers crying for them.

Motherhood was the main theme of this 2020 drama, and it’s a refreshing take on the usually underappreciated members of society. While there are countless dramas that have mothers as central characters, it’s my first time to watch a series revolving around postpartum care. Birthcare Center was a slice-of-life/healing drama about the reality of women who recently gave birth. They checked in at the Serenity Postpartum Care Center to recover and to train on how to properly raise a newborn baby. The drama is full of lessons about the struggles of mothers – breastfeeding, personal growth, career path, child-rearing, depression, anxiety. It’s a very sensitive depiction of how mothers react differently when it comes to pregnancy, labor, and postnatal recovery.

Looking back, this was 2020’s one of the most underrated gems. You can easily get attached to the small community of mothers and learn more about their respective struggles. I liked that it was just an eight-episode drama because there were no dragging moments, and conflicts were resolved immediately. Top-billed by veteran actress Uhm Ji-won, Birthcare Center was overall an easy watch. Let’s look back on the journey of the eommonims at the Serenity Postpartum Care Center in this edition of “The Best of.”

🤰🏻 Strong-willed heroine Oh Hyun-jin

Birthcare Center‘s main character is an alpha female who faces the most important challenge of her life – motherhood. Her fancy career titles suddenly had no bearing in this new world, and her self-esteem went rock bottom. 42-year-old Oh Hyun-jin (Uhm Ji-won) may be a late bloomer, but she has a loving husband by her side and a community who teaches her the best practices.

🤰🏻 Friendship of Kim Do-yoon (Yoon Park) and Yang Joon-seok (Lee Jun-hyeok)

Rarely do we see in dramas wherein new fathers confide in each other for parenting tips. They took the saying “A happy wife is a happy life!” seriously in the series. The interactions between Do-yoon as the hoobae and Joo-seok hyungnim as the sunbae in the world of fatherhood were so fun to watch! I could imagine Yoon Park being the best baby daddy to Glue Stick!

🤰🏻 Hyun-jin and Do-yoon’s marriage

I was skeptical at the noona romance between the main couple because I thought this could be a conflict later. I thought there would be a monster mom-in-law who would terrorize Hyun-jin for bearing a child at an old age, or the usual K-drama brouhaha about older female marrying much younger men. But I’m sincerely glad that’s not the case with Do-yoon and Hyun-jin! They clearly love each other, and I can see them raising Ra-on/Glue Stick as a well-mannered kid!

🤰🏻 “Perfect” life of Sarang’s mom

Cho Eun-jeong (Park Ha-sun) was the Queen Bee of the center, a seemingly perfect mom who breastfed her twins for 24 months, and now everyone wants to be on her good side to learn about her secrets in raising children. Little did everyone know, her life was far from perfection. She has a famous husband, but they don’t communicate well. She raised her children at the expense of her career, and later on, her happiness. But now, she’s better at making judgments about her life, and even though she’s really good at being a mother, she’s slowly learning to value herself and communicate better to redeem her happiness.

🤰🏻 Friendship among the mothers at Serenity Postpartum Care Center

One thing that this drama established from start to finish is that motherhood is not an easy task. It’s forever. Being a mother changes a woman, not just physically, but as in her whole being. And because of this, the mothers staying at the Serenity Postpartum Center found comfort in each other. They belong to very different backgrounds, yet they found each other because they’re moms. And their friendship goes beyond the birth care center because they all get each other’s struggles.

🤰🏻 Life lessons from Yomi’s mom

Lee Roo-da (Choi Ri) is my favorite character in the drama! Everything that comes out of her mouth makes sense, and she’s not easily intimidated by other people. She may be the youngest mother at the center, but her stance on important issues such as perception of women and motherhood, happiness, marriage always come from the most realistic and practical standpoint. The sunbae moms all learned a thing or two from her!

“A good mom is not a perfect mom. It’s a mom who is happy along with her child.”

Grumpy Alley

🤱🏻 Nam Yoon-soo as the smiley-face delivery man Ha Gyeong-hoon

🤱🏻 Park Si-yeon as the embattled actress Han Hyo-rin, who faces public humiliation after giving birth

🤱🏻 Cha Tae-hyun’s cameo as the nurse’s son! This was special because Choi Soo-min is his real-life mother and a voice actress! No wonder she was really hilarious in voicing out the infants’ thoughts in the drama. His appearance and dialogue was a tribute to his mom.