Maeil Dairies (267980.KS) said on the 12th that it received a Prime Minister's Award at the 21st Pregnant Women's Day ceremony on the 8th, hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and organized by the Korea Population, Health and Welfare Association.
The company has run education programs for expectant mothers and families with infants for more than 50 years, starting with its "One-Day Mothers' Class" in 1975. It currently offers expert lectures on pregnancy and childbirth, parenting classes and prenatal music concerts for expectant parents through its "Absolute Mom School" program. It also provides related information through Maeil I, an online pregnancy and parenting portal.
The company also produces specialty infant formula for children with congenital metabolic disorders, a group of rare diseases. Maeil Dairies has made the formula for 27 years since 1999 and currently supplies 12 products across eight categories. It has continued to sponsor the PKU Family Growth Camp for children with phenylketonuria, launched in 2001, and since 2013 has run the "Absolute Heart Meal" campaign to raise awareness of the condition.
The company has also set up childbirth and child-care benefits for its employees. Maeil Dairies became the first dairy company in Korea to be certified as a family-friendly management company in 2009, and provides support including fertility treatment costs, childbirth bonuses and formula products. Employees who have three children receive a total of 20 million won ($14,000) in childbirth bonuses.
Other family support programs include Babymoon, a prenatal travel program for expectant parents, and sponsorship of welfare organizations that help adopted children and single mothers become self-sufficient.
"We will continue to do our best to help build a society where expectant mothers, children and families are all healthy and happy, and to fulfill our corporate social responsibility in an era of low birth rates," an official at Maeil Dairies said.