Local Focus: Māmā, pēpi, whānau and vaccine

Hapu māmā were the focus of a very important wānanga in Rotorua on Thursday.

The informal drop-in kōrero at Apumoana Marae was about the Covid vaccine during pregnancy and post-partum.

It was the first of a number of kanohi ki te kanohi (face-to-face) meetings for pregnant women and their whānau wānanga in a safe space.

Ngāti Raukawa obstetrician Dr Kasey Tawhara worked with midwives and experts to help answer any pātai or concerns.

Tawhara said vaccination was safe in pregnancy.

"That the vaccine does not pass through the whenua and affect the baby's growth function," she said.

"It doesn't affect their birth process.

"It doesn't pass through breast milk while you are breastfeeding your pēpi.

"So it's getting that message out there that it is safe, and actually more importantly, that it provides protection so that the vaccine can help build immunity."

She said immunity, not the vaccine, was passed from the mother.

Anaesthesiologist Dr Arihia Waaka is a soon-to-be mother who has been double vaccinated.

She went along to tautoko the kaupapa and to add to her kete of medical knowledge.

"Being hapū myself, even though I work up at the hospital, it's nice to always gather a bit more information and education around common questions that māmā have, so that I can talk to other people about it as well," Waaka said.

Te Arawa Lakes Vaccination Co-ordinator Yvonne Rogers said the wānanga was about providing access to the right information.

"There's lots of misinformation about the vaccine for pregnant and breastfeeding women and so we wanted to provide an environment where they can come face to face with our clinical staff at the hospital to ask those questions," she said.

"We know that kanohi ki te kanohi is how lots of whānau like to operate and social media has lots of misinformation.

"So we wanted to provide our hapu māmā with correct information and being able to ask those questions and getting answers right there and then without having to try troll through lots of information," she said.

Rotorua has one of the lowest vaccination rates across the country.

Tawhara said the focus was needed on the right message and making vaccination accessible to all.

"Grassroots, on the ground, kanohi ki te kanohi, can help up those vaccination rates and it's about providing all sorts of methods to be able to get the vaccine."

"Through all sorts of ways, drive-throughs, drop-ins, coming into the hōhipera (hospital) to support someone and actually you've got a vaccinator on the ward.

"So we've had to change the way we even approach the whole vaccination processes."

• More wānanga will be held in the coming months. Information can be found on Te Arawa Covid-19 Response Hub Facebook page.