“This is a journey that everybody knows we have to take, and we know we have to change things or nothing will happen and our babies and our mums will continue to be harmed and die when it doesn’t have to be this way.”
The service will provide new support and access to healthcare such as midwifery support, obstetrician services and maternal mental health services, all through a te ao Māori lens.
Pou Tikanga Taku Parai (Ngāti Toa Rangatira) says the difference between this service and mainstream services is the incorporation of “taha Māori, wairua Māori, taha hinengaro, taha whānau, and all those guiding principles and kawa that are understood within their worldview.”
The blessing for the hub was celebrated on International Women’s Day and attended by Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro. She’s the patron of Victoria University’s women’s health research centre, Te Tātai Hauora o Hine, which worked with Ngāti Toa to create the centre.
“It’s just amazing to know that we have the support of one of our most important Māori wāhine,” Lawton says.
