The village we needed when pēpi arrived

I was 18 years old, having birthed a huge baby. We were struggling to breastfeed and my partner who was also young needed to go to work. There was no…

After having pēps I would get intrusive thoughts about something bad happening to my pēpi, her getting violently hurt. I tried to share this with Plunket and GPs they didn’t…

We received government funding to do IVF as we were trying for 10 years (secondary infertility), it even included free counselling during treatment, but we noticed there wasn't much "support"…

Kia Ora, I am a single màma to a beautiful 2 year old baby. I wanted to share my testimony when I struggled with depression and loneliness all because the…

I still think about my birth because it went from very ok to very not in an instant. My midwife care was not the best, looking back on it, she…

I’m not from NZ but moved here with my husband 4 years ago. We had our baby and had no village around us. My husband returned to work when baby…

My family moved to New Zealand more than 2 years ago and I got pregnant with my 2nd child. We don't have any family who live here hence no immediate…

we've adopted, a conscious choice that came from deeper rooted issues of growing up in a narcissist and abusive household, a vow I made to help a child not grow…

Just before I got pregnant with my middle child, both of my parents died. One died a long and drawn out death, and the other had been sick for a…

Kia ora koutou katoa, my story is fairly long but I will shorten to fit. In 2016 I had my first daughter at 20years old the following year 2017 I…

I had my first three children in my twenties. Their dad and I had a difficult relationship, but his whānau gave me something I didn't fully appreciate at the time:…

When I had my first baby, my child free female friends really showed up, checked in and gave me company (especially the ones who didn’t work during the week), even…

I am Chinese and have lived in NZ since I was 5. A month before my baby was born my mum moved to my city to live with me and…

My baby only just arrived and it is my first baby. The whole experience is new to me and I’m so lucky my village wants to be involved, but I…

I’m not a mum. I was told 4 years ago that I can’t have kids. It broke my heart when I found out. Being Māori, everybody talks about “whakapapa” and…

My partner is very boundaried and needs a lot of alone time, but that was always a huge struggle when baby arrived, because i couldnt just get up and leave…

I think everyone is quick to help when baby is born, but the real help is needed when you're off mat leave and your kids are sick every other week…

I had lock down babies. It was hard and isolating but I guess I didn't know any different. The change of identity was the hardest part. I was desperate to…

When my third Pēpi was born we were so excited. She was finally here and we felt like we kind of knew what we were doing at this point. However…

When my oldest was born, my husband and I were really excited. We thought we were pretty prepared. But things didn’t go to plan. After a very traumatic birth, I…

I’m 27 with five children, my youngest being just six months. I was always aware of PPD lingering around since I had my first child at 18 (9 years ago).…

I had a what heaps of support as a teen parent. Mostly from my siblings and nieces. I had a c-section and so couldn’t walk properly for two weeks. I…

I was 21 when I had pēpi and felt ready, I had grown up quite fast and knew I had a good village around me. I had just started my…

Me and my partner were pretty independent when our daughter was born, she was planned and we had done all the classes etc so thought we were pretty prepared. But…

When my moko was born we were all living together, 4 generations under one roof. My mother in law was 90 and the matriarch of our whānau. My daughter had…

I overheard two of my sisters-in-law talking about their mental health during pregnancy and after their babies were born. They had both struggled with their mental health so they understood…

In terms of our experience with our first born.

I think we were pretty fortunate to have a good foundation as expecting parents we were both in good jobs and had…