Te Whatu Ora’s new chief hauora Māori clinical officer for midwifery says the hunt is on for Māori to become midwives or clinicians.
Nicole Pihema is a former president of the New Zealand College of Midwives and she says she still keeps her hand in on the front lin e with home births and backing up local midwives.
She says there are now more pathways into midwifery, with funding support Māori and Pasifika students.
“What we want to know and what we want to ensure is every whānau has a midwife because our tūpuna, they all knew who to go to to birth, they all knew where to go to and we want to continue that thread. We want to ensure we input it back into our whānau, that proudness of being Māori, that proudness of having clinicians you feel safe being around,” Ms Pihema says.
She says there is increasing interest and not just from Māori midwives in practices like karakia, waiata, and oriori or lullabies during birthing.
