NIKKI Taylor manages the Te Kūiti maternity resource centre. PHOTOS SUPPLIED
A health expo is on at Te Kūiti tomorrow, hosted by the Maternity Resource Centre.
At “Hapori Hauora,” between 11am and 4pm, health workers can āwhi with anything from blood sugar testing, smear tests and advice about how to quit smoking, hypnobirthing and yoga.
Parents can access childhood immunisations (like the MMR), Covid vaccinations, and meet local nurses from Whānau Āwhina Plunket. It’s for everyone from pēpi to kuia and kaumatua as well as pregnant women.
Te Kūiti Maternity Resource Centre manager Nikki Taylor said the event would be a fun, informal one-stop-shop for families.
“Maybe they’ve got toddlers that haven’t yet been seen by the dental surgery,” she said.
“They could then get a free check-up.”
There will also be a free sausage sizzle and other giveaways.
The maternity centre is holding the event partly to re-connect with the community after Covid.
“We haven’t been able to do a lot of things that we would normally be able to do. But we have been having vaccination days, so we thought we’ll try to tag along to that,” Nikki said.
“It’s a low-key day. Just drop in when you have time.”
Nikki said Piopio-based hypnobirthing expert Lliwen Gwyn MacRae would be there, sharing her knowledge about empowering women on their journey to becoming mothers.
Lliwen, a mother of three, is one of a kind in the local health community.
She provides maternity support but also life coaching, combined in one online course for pregnant women. And she does so in her own language, Welsh, as well as in English – teaching online with clients in both countries.
At the expo, Lliwen will provide information about the course.
“It’s learning about mindfulness,” she said. “The full course is a lot about understanding what’s happening in your body and how your mind can affect the way your body reacts. It helps with building a positive mindset towards birth.”
She helps clients navigate the maternity system, and helps birthing partners – not just partners but mothers, sisters and others – know the best ways to provide support.
“We also work a lot on confidence and actually get to the bottom of what is important to you with the birth experience. It doesn’t matter how you actually give birth; you can still have an empowered experience. It’s a full antenatal preparation course.”
So, what is the hypno in hypnobirthing? Lliwen provides pregnant women with audio recordings intended to help them put their bodies into a relaxed physical state, and reframe any fears they may have about giving birth. Often pregnant women will bring the recordings into the birthing suite, because they associate it with calm, peaceful feelings.
“I think sometimes when people hear the word hypnobirthing, they get a big misconception thinking you’re going to be in this trance, or be completely hypnotised,” Lliwen said.
Lliwen started learning about hypnobirthing after “putting her head in the sand” when she gave birth to her first daughter.
“I thought, I’m going to have to go through this horrible experience.
“It looked like an okay birth but for me emotionally, I felt quite scared, shocked, and I just didn’t know what was happening in my body. [Later] I did a hypnobirthing course and it totally transformed my experience.
“I went from a scared girl into a very empowered woman,” she said.
Originally, Lliwen only worked online with Welsh-speaking women. But a pregnant friend in the King Country sought out her services, so she started catering online to a New Zealand clientele in English.
Hapori Hauora events are when Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand links with a range of health services, bringing them to a locally planned event in the community.
