Does prenatal care have a future?

Judging from the current supply and demand gap in reproductive services and industry development trends, prenatal care as a whole has great potential, but it is not suitable for everyone. The differentiation in the industry has actually widened.

I met a midwife who had been working as a midwife for 7 years in Hangzhou before. Three years ago, she got out of the Provincial Maternity Insurance Company and opened a community-based prenatal care studio. It focuses on soothing morning sickness in the first trimester, weight control in the second trimester, and giving birth previews in the third trimester. Currently, weekly appointments are basically scheduled for 10 days or more. The price per customer ranges from 300 for one-on-one consultation to 12,800 for exclusive companionship materials throughout the pregnancy. Last month, it just signed a targeted referral agreement with two surrounding high-end confinement centers, and the customer base is very stable.

Of course, there are many voices that badmouth this industry. Last year, I saw a small agency that closed down less than half a year after it opened. The owner was a layman with a background in beauty. He hired two freshly graduated nurses and dared to sell the brand of prenatal care. Even the step-by-step diet plan for gestational diabetes was not standardized. The customer experience that was attracted by low prices would never come back again. After 5 months, he couldn't even pay the rent and he closed the store.

To put it bluntly, everyone complains that prenatal care has no future, and many of them have fallen into the trap of "pseudo-professionalism". Nowadays, any maternal and child blogger can say a few things to pay attention to during pregnancy. If the content you can provide is similar to what is free online, why should users pay? Think about it, a new pregnant mother who is pregnant for the first time squats down and cries in the hospital corridor when her progesterone is found to be low. The information found online sometimes says that she must lie down to protect the fetus, and sometimes says that survival of the fittest should be ignored. She is so panicked that she has no idea. At this time, if a professional prenatal nurse can take her examination report, explain the risks based on her previous medical history, and give her a specific plan of what to eat every day, how much to eat, and how to go to the hospital immediately under certain circumstances, she will most likely be willing to pay for this assurance.

Of course, the industry has not yet been fully standardized, and there are indeed many organizations that disrupt the market by selling anxiety. For example, it is clear that all indicators of pregnant women are normal, but they insist on deceiving people into doing projects such as "fetal intelligence activation" that have no scientific basis. As a result, when many people hear prenatal care, their first reaction is "IQ tax". The trust threshold of users is actually getting higher and higher. It is basically difficult for teams without professional qualifications and unable to provide real service cases to do it.

In fact, this business is similar to running a restaurant. Everyone knows that catering is a necessity, but if your food is unpalatable and hygienic is not up to standard, no matter how big the outlet is, it has nothing to do with you. The best prenatal nurses around me basically have more than three years of obstetric or midwifery experience in public hospitals, and have passed related qualifications such as registered nutritionists and international lactation consultants. It is normal to earn two to three hundred thousand a year. If you can save up customers and open a small studio, your income can be doubled. But if you have no professional experience and want to make quick money, you will most likely be cannon fodder.