Anastasiia Novikova, a Ukrainian who has been living in South Korea for nearly a decade, is discovering a side of the country she wouldn’t have known if she hadn’t become a mother a year ago.

At a "joriwon," a Korean postpartum care center, she experienced firsthand the support and healing period granted to Korean women after giving birth.

“For foreign mothers like me, it would be really tough to go straight home with the newborn straight from the hospital, especially without having family members around to help,” Novikova said during an interview with The Korea Herald.

She described her nine days at joriwon as feeling like she was in “heaven.”

The facility, where she and her son Seonwoo spent nine days following their discharge from the hospital, provided nutritious meals, massages and a hotel-like room to stay. Experts were on standby to assist with breastfeeding and caring for the baby, including tasks like bathing and changing diapers. In her native Ukraine, she said, such services tailored for new moms practically don't exist.

Novikova moved to Korea in 2016 to marry her now-Korean husband, whom she met on Instagram the year prior.

Speaking the Korean language quite well, she believed she had fully adjusted to life in Korea, to the point where she even craved kimchi jjigae, or kimchi stew, while visiting home back in Ukraine before the war with Russia broke out in 2022.

Once Seonwoo was born about a year ago, her sense of familiarity with Korean culture shifted, replaced by a series of cultural shocks.

She was surprised to discover the widely held belief among older generations in Korea that newborns should not be taken outside until they are 100 days old.

"In Ukraine, parents take their babies outside as soon as they are born, believing that sunlight for vitamin D and fresh air help boost the baby’s immune system,” she said.

She also found it fascinating how Korean parents eagerly celebrate both their baby’s 100th day and first birthday, as such traditions were unfamiliar for her.

With her baby about to turn 1 year old, the Ukrainian mom is excited to dress her son in the traditional Korean hanbok for the upcoming “doljanchi,” a Korean first birthday celebration featuring a decorated feast table filled with a variety of foods and flowers. One of the highlights of this celebration is the "doljabi" ritual, where the baby selects an object that ― symbolically at least ― determines their future.

“It’s wonderful that I can naturally introduce Korean culture to my child,” she said.

Another notable aspect of Korea's parenting culture that Novikova pointed out was the numerous online and mobile parenting communities, which have played a significant role in helping her raise her child in Korea as a foreigner.

“I love that I can quickly get answers to various parenting concerns and find information I didn’t know, all from online mom cafes,” she said.

Seonwoo recently said "mama" in Ukrainian to her, while calling his father “appa,” or “dad” in Korean.

Novikova expressed her desire for the child to embrace the languages and cultures of both his mother and father. In her living room, one bookshelf is filled with Korean fairy tales, while another holds Ukrainian-language storybooks.

Not just languages, though, she wants to pass on family traditions of the two sides as well, the mother added. “We celebrate Christmas and Easter in Ukraine. I want to pass on these holiday traditions as well.”

Ever since Russia dragged Ukraine into war nearly three years ago, Novikova has been unable to ever stop worrying about her home country and her family, who live in Zaporizhzhia, an area that has been the focus of intense attacks.

“I never imagined it would turn out like this when I first came to Korea. Before the war, I used to visit Ukraine quite often," she said, speaking about the emotional strain of not being able to see her family in Ukraine.

As a parent, she has been deeply affected and saddened by the sight of children becoming the victims of war in Ukraine.

“It’s truly heartbreaking to see innocent children becoming victims. I always cry when I watch news of babies around the same age as my son in Ukraine losing their parents or getting hurt,” she said.

She hopes the war ends soon, and she will be able to take her son to her hometown.

"First, I’d take my baby to Zaporizhzhia, where I was born. I also want to visit Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and the beautiful southern city of Odesa. I hope that day comes soon."

Until then, she focuses on sharing her daily life with Seonwoo on her YouTube channel "anamong," as her way of staying connected with her family in Ukraine, whom she can't meet due to the ongoing war.

"It’s really hard not being able to see my family in Ukraine," she said. "My parents miss Seonwoo so much, so I just try to record our daily life like a diary, so they can see him growing up.”