NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Teen mum's premature party birth

Kirsty Wynn
By Kirsty Wynn
Reporter·Herald on Sunday·
10 Dec, 2011 04:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Cynthia Jane Williams weighed less than 1kg at birth but is doing well in an incubator at Auckland City Hospital. Photo / Supplied

Cynthia Jane Williams weighed less than 1kg at birth but is doing well in an incubator at Auckland City Hospital. Photo / Supplied

A teen mum who gave birth to a baby 13 weeks early was drinking alcohol at her 18th birthday celebrations the night before.

Kataraina Hape said she drank two glasses of Kahlua and cola the evening before her tiny daughter was born last week

Her midwife has spoken out about the role alcohol may have played in the birth - which the incredibly tiny baby has been fortunate to survive.

Those comments have been backed by experts who have repeated warnings on the dangerous behaviour that can go with drinking.

Hape said she hoped telling her story would stop other girls drinking while pregnant.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"[The doctors] don't know for sure yet but they think it might have been the drinking I did the night before," Hape said. "I want to tell other mums not to drink, I don't want other mums to do what I have done and go through my experience."

Hape said she had consumed alcohol on other occasions but only because she didn't realise she was pregnant.

"Until one or two weeks ago I didn't even know I was pregnant, it was a shock," Hape said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hape's baby girl Cynthia Jane Williams weighed just 907g or nearly 2lb when she was born - the average full-term Kiwi baby weighs around 3500g.

"She is tiny but she is doing well," Hape said.

Last night, Cynthia was still in an incubator at Auckland City Hospital on oxygen and being fed her mother's expressed milk from a feeding tube.

Hape woke up with labour pains early last Saturday morning and drove to Kaeo Hospital but it was closed. She then went to the home of the midwife who had delivered her son Izayass, now 1.

Discover more

New Zealand

Fetal harm warnings likely for alcohol labels

02 Dec 04:30 PM
World

The childless generation

16 Dec 04:30 PM

"When I got there she called the ambulance. After 15 minutes they got there. When I got into the ambulance I could feel her pushing and five minutes later she was out."

Cynthia was airlifted to Auckland City Hospital for specialist care while Hape, her mother and mother-in-law drove.

"It was a long and painful trip," Hape said. "I was really scared and sore and I was just hoping I didn't get any phone calls [from the hospital]."

Hape and partner Michael Williams said baby Cynthia was doing well.

"They had her head scanned to make sure there was no bleeding in her head and she is eating properly now through a tube," Hape said.

Williams said he was looking forward to holding his daughter, who would be in an incubator for the next five weeks.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We can't hold her just yet," Williams said. "She's hooked up to all the tubes and oxygen, she's only the size of my hand."

Williams said Cynthia was named after his older sister who was killed in a car crash when she was six months old.

"She died before I was born but my Mum is honoured her grand-daughter was named after her daughter," Williams said.

Auckland specialist Dr Alec Ekeroma said other activities during drinking could cause pre-term labour.

"Drinking alcohol in pregnancy is not advisable in any amount," Dr Ekeroma said.

"In early stages it can cause miscarriages and later it can cause problems like fetal alcohol syndrome which manifests in many ways."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Chief executive of New Zealand College of Midwives Karen Guilliland last night said the college would always advise women not to drink when pregnant.

"We say, if you want to keep risk-free, don't drink."

Hape's midwife Betty Ras described Cynthia's birth as a miracle but said it was an early labour that could probably have been avoided if Hape hadn't been drinking.

"This baby should still be in the womb and it could be. It is a nice story that the baby survived and is doing well but the [early] birth was avoidable," Ras said.

Ras said there was a huge problem with pregnant teenagers drinking.

"There are still young girls that want to try out lives and they want to drink but it is like drink-driving. You drink or you drive but not both." Ras said the teen pregnancy rate and drinking needed to be addressed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

This country has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates, with around 60 in every 1000 young women getting pregnant in 2009. The rate was 50 in every 1000 20 years ago.

In 2009, 8650 young women under the age of 19 got pregnant - 108 were under the age of 15.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand|crime

Migrant worker allegedly beaten for demanding unpaid wages, man faces serious assault charge

02 Jul 05:22 AM
New Zealand

From the theatre to a line mechanic: Hastings woman aims to inspire women into electrical trade

02 Jul 04:05 AM
Auckland

Dead baby found in Auckland wheelie bin, woman in custody

02 Jul 03:57 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Migrant worker allegedly beaten for demanding unpaid wages, man faces serious assault charge

Migrant worker allegedly beaten for demanding unpaid wages, man faces serious assault charge

02 Jul 05:22 AM

The Migrant Workers' Association says it is supporting the victim.

From the theatre to a line mechanic: Hastings woman aims to inspire women into electrical trade

From the theatre to a line mechanic: Hastings woman aims to inspire women into electrical trade

02 Jul 04:05 AM
Dead baby found in Auckland wheelie bin, woman in custody

Dead baby found in Auckland wheelie bin, woman in custody

02 Jul 03:57 AM
Motueka prepares for floods

Motueka prepares for floods

From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP