In my whānau, children and mothers were born and flourished surrounded by children, women, and whānau.

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Like a village.

We lived in a world that celebrated our culture.

A Samoan Nanny, a Māori Papa.

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Our cousins were our brothers and sisters, and our uncles and aunties also parented us. When I had my sons, my whānau and friends helped me. My husband was a gentle and loving father to our new little babies. My mother was really significant to my wellbeing and experience.

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Through my Tamariki Ora Well Child nursing and time with

Māori Health Providers, I experienced wonderful communities and met families and young mothers who did amazingly well.

But I also met mothers who didn't have a village and struggled. 

Loneliness, isolation, disconnection, illness, feeling adrift, and being in not very good situations made it hard to mother and parent well. Services did their best but didn't always understand and meet the needs of new mothers.

This made me sad and worry for our pēpi and tamariki.

 

We have many wonderful services and professionals in the community who do amazing things with our whānau. But often we are missing the interwoven cultural, social, and spiritual connections and base that make a us human and whole.

 

I thought we could do things better to support our mothers who needed more help.

So we created Mamia.

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The purpose of Mamia is to respond to the voice of wāhine and whānau and contribute to building community. The kaupapa of Mamia is to love, nurture, and empower mothers who will raise the next generation of loved, strong, happy whānau.