Ten days after giving birth to my daughter, my husband and I drove into Manhattan to check in at a postpartum hotel. Boram, a postnatal retreat, focuses on caring for new moms as they begin the Fourth Trimester, setting them up for success in the journey of motherhood.
From the moment I heard about Boram, before I even got pregnant, I was fascinated. When babies are born, so much of the attention is (rightfully) on them — but a lot of times mothers are forgotten or overlooked. During this extremely vulnerable time, moms deserve hands-on postpartum care from experts and specialists, without expectations or judgment.
When most families get home from the hospital with a newborn, they're in survival mode — taking care of the baby is the priority, which means eating, sleeping, and recovering from childbirth often get put on the back burner. Rest and recovery are essential for new moms, though. Giving birth is exhausting, and it is traumatic on the body — it takes months for bodies to recover from pregnancy and childbirth. At Boram, a professional care team focuses on rest, recovery, and bonding, as well as guiding new parents through the first few days of newborn care.
Boram's model is based on the postnatal centers of South Korea, where postpartum care is seen as essential. Co-founder Boram Nam told Fortune, "All my friends who were having babies in Korea were checking themselves into one of these retreats, feeling better, feeling supported, learning so much more, and just feeling ready to go back to what they had before… This culture of supporting women after birth has been around for centuries. But it turned into a business about 20 years ago in South Korea when people were migrating to the city, living more in the urban setting away from their village, away from their families. It became a business idea to set up a facility to support women right after giving birth."
When I got pregnant, I immediately started planning for my birth and recovery (what can I say, I'm type A); I looked into local hospitals, I interviewed doulas, and I started working with a new psychiatrist. When it came to my postpartum care, I knew I wanted to stay at Boram. Although the postnatal retreat is expensive (the nightly rate ranges from $950 to $1,050), it seemed worth it for the comfortable room, 24/7 mother and baby care, nourishing meals, lactation support, community workshops and education, and physical and mental wellness.
Here's what my experience was like at Boram Postnatal Retreat:
*My stay at Boram was gifted in exchange for an editorial review.
Booking
The Room
We stayed in a standard king bedroom, which was absolutely beautiful. There was a hospital-style bassinet in the room for our daughter, as well as a Boppy nursing pillow.
My daughter's bassinet came complete with all the necessities: a soft swaddle, a shirt, diapers, wipes, diaper cream, and disposable changing pads. There was also a tray for bottles and pump parts that needed to be sanitized.
In addition to the basic toiletries, Boram provided us with a variety of Evereden products, like the Petit Bouquet Belly Serum and Nourishing Stretch Mark Cream for me, and the Protecting Baby Face Cream, Baby Moisturizing Lotion, and Soothing Baby Massage Oil for my baby.
In the bathroom, there was a cart with postpartum care essentials: pads, witch hazel wipes, and adult diapers. Boram also provided a sitz bath basin, which the care team would happily set up at any time.
Services
Boram is all about individualized care for mom and baby, so they offer a variety of services to support the postpartum journey. The care team provides hands-on assistance for anything you might need help with: diapering, bathing, breastfeeding, pumping, bottle feeding, swaddling, physical postpartum recovery, mental health support, and more. You can also book spa services and attend daily classes/social events in the Mother's Lounge.
I knew I wanted to take advantage of everything Boram had to offer, so I requested a sitz bath and foot bath, set up time with the lactation consultant, and attended the childcare class that was offered in the Mother's Lounge.
