Spring Hui at Umupuia Marae.

By Sharon Knightbridge
Nov 2014

Home Birth Aotearoa’s National Hui is held in spring each year and is a gathering of all home birth associations and support groups. It is open to trustees, representatives from the regional groups, their families, midwives, student midwives, and representatives from partnership groups — in short, anyone who is interested in home birth in Aotearoa New Zealand. Attending hui is an opportunity to share regional issues and to reflect on what we are trying to achieve as a national organization. Issues are discussed; decisions for the months ahead are made, and knowledge is shared. Participants leave hui feeling inspired and energized by each other.

Hui was awesome, so much passion and connection, and what an amazing space just across from the sea. Great to meet so many lovely new people, a huge thank you to everyone involved

….. Together we are POWER – Carla Jenkinson

The AGM is held at the national hui; this is the forum to approve the Finance and Board Reports, review the Strategic Plan, discuss any proposals for the national organisation, and hear regional reports.

A pōwhiri was held to warmly welcome us onto the marae. We learned that the marae buildings are all named for female tīpuna (ancestors), which seemed very fitting for the purpose of our hui. We also heard that the land had never been sold or bought, belonging always to the people and the place. Following the kōrero, we were invited to have a cup of tea to complete the welcome. As we relaxed into our home for the next few days, we felt very welcome and very comfortable.

All the healthy, nutritious, and delicious meals were lovingly prepared, happily consumed, and greatly enjoyed. Thank you to Fi, Puawai & Janet, along with our French helpers for the weekend, for caring for us so beautifully.

The Kei a wai ceremony gave us the opportunity to introduce ourselves and commit to the purpose of the hui. People stood together with others from their regions to share a little about themselves and their home birth stories before pouring water into the Vessel to symbolize the mingling of our common goals.

In the afternoon there was discussion on “The Partnership Model of care, the midwife and the birthing woman.”

In a recent article for Home Birth Matters magazine, Carla Sargent (HB mama, blogger, author & midwife) recently wrote about how within our current maternity model, which appears ideal and is lauded internationally, the rate of medical interventions and associated trauma is rising. She asserted that this does not satisfy women (higher morbidities & trauma) NOR does it satisfy midwives who are under pressure to conform to mainstream practices (within hospital facilities & increasingly at home). Midwives who practice within a broader definition of “normal” often feel unsupported by their midwifery colleagues, women, their College, and the Midwifery Council. Carla also suggested the 3 Ms that influence birth:

1.  Mainstream – does the birthing woman fall outside today’s definition of normal? E.g., VBAC, high BMI, Home Birth, water birth, multiples, breech, etc.
2.  Media – our current birth paradigm is shaped by television, films, war stories of birth, nuclear families, and our current risk adverse culture.
3.  Midwife – what is her philosophy, experience, work environment, support, comfort zone etc?

Robust discussion around this issue was joined by women and midwives with experiences reaching across a wide range of birth facilities and eras. The emerging themes were around the loss of the home birth political voice, issues around money for midwives, resources for home birth groups, home birth components of the student curriculum, relationships, professional support, communication, advocacy, language of birth, responsibility, liability, and the definition of normal birth. The session was wrapped up with a commitment to ongoing conversations and strategic planning to address the issues noted.

“….just wanted to share my gratitude for your planning the lovely hui at the delightful Umupuia Marae. It was a joy to meet you and get a sense for the kaupapa in action and I look forward to seeing what comes of the discussions, particularly the Saturday afternoon partnership conversation, it felt timely and well considered by all involved. Arohanui.” – Angela Trillo

The AGM was presented by the Trustees of HBA who noted that it has been a massive year for HBA with the launching of new branding, new website, and new online magazine. This focus on development of the public profile was a deliberate strategy to create visibility for the organisation and to build a platform for the collective homebirth voice. There has been significant resource channelled to these projects with a large part of that consisting of generous contributions from the wider home birth community. Images from the 2013 photo competition were used to make the website look and feel connected to the homebirth community in Aotearoa. The website looks luscious and has lots of functionality. The visitor rate is high with over 30,000 views. The Midwives Database is able to be updated by the individual midwife although it was noted that some of the listings unfortunately are out of date. Regions were asked to encourage homebirth midwives to update information regularly and to please let the Administrator know if changes are needed. The Forum function has yet to be utilised and it was discussed that this will need further promotion. It has the benefit of archiving conversations (as opposed to Facebook where threads are often lost, and ownership of information is at question). Further social media applications are the HBA Pinterest account and the HBA Twitter account which, are both gradually building.

What a beautiful weekend, thank you so much. It is so special when women can come together and share on so many levels, their passion, their love and nourish and connect with one another. – Carla Jenkinson

Also noted were some changes in Trustees with the resignation of Cecile McNeille, Vicki Rogers, and Rachel Pearson. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of these inspiring women. We wish them well and we will miss them. New trustees were being sought and these positions have now been filled in the form of Eva Neely, Tammi Heap, Xavia Healy-Diaz, and Donna Fowles.

Employee changes are also afoot with the resignation of Tess Trotter. As Administrator, Tess has been pivotal in the work achieved by the Trust over the two years she has been with HBA. We wish Tess all the best and miss her already.

“My overarching takeaway from Hui? The children. The love, grace, and joy of this amazing community of children. Feeling blessed for my time in their presence.” – Tess Trotter

HBAs intention going into 2015 is to focus energy on the grassroots membership, with strategies being developed to support regional homebirth groups and associations. A further intention will be around strengthening mutually supportive connections with midwives – our partners in birth. Regional groups are encouraged to make contact with NZCOM regional committees as well as a broad range of midwifery and maternity focussed organisations. HBA offered help with connecting with groups in the regions, please get in touch if needed.

On Saturday evening the Red Tent Sharing Circle facilitated by Lianne Divine brought to the fore some great conversations and was a chance for a few mums who have been doing it tough to release their emotions in a safe space.

On Sunday, Regional Reports were presented verbally by those present. On the whole regional groups are continuing to tick along with various coffee mornings, pool hire, book sharing, and other supportive events. Some great initiatives are taking place with fundraising although finances are problematic in most areas. One region shared that they had moved to paying a part-time administrator and also reimbursing costs for those coordinating the pool hire – everyone agreed this would make a difference to their own regions. Screenings of the documentary “Microbirth” have been occurring through many regions and HBA has actively promoted and supported these. Regional Pod Hui have taken place in Southland and Auckland, and these were reported to have been nurturing and connecting.

Hui was a blast guys. I love soaking up the wisdom and aroha of our homebirth collective. Thanks to all for their strong voices and hearts. – Sian Hannagan

The end of hui was signalled with the usual flurry of packing up, cleaning up and farewelling, and was accompanied by the paradoxical sense of the days having flown by and yet having contained much. The arrangements to come to hui can be complex, taking time from your homes, families, and work to invest in our homebirth community and organisation is appreciated. We trust that everyone left hui feeling inspired and connected.

Alesha offers her reflections:

This was my first attendance at Hui, and I hope for it not to be my last. It was a peaceful, welcoming environment of the most beautiful surroundings and community. I returned home feeling inspired and supported, having had the privilege of learning from the wisdom and experiences of others. As a home birthing mother, I appreciated the opportunity to hear from students and midwives as to their experience of home birth in Aotearoa and I hope that the understandings shared between us may be of continuing support in these times to following. Having birthed and lived in a part of Aotearoa where home birth support slips in and out of a woman’sgrasp, I am well aware of the importance of our community and the space hui gives us to strengthen our ties. Heartfelt thanks to those that organised the event and kept us so well fed and informed over the weekend. Looking forward to seeing you all again!

“I have always enjoyed attending the 2 yearly homebirth conferences, and always come away inspired and full of passion, but this year was my first time to attend the hui. I must say I loved the whole experience of my first homebirth hui, not only was the scenery beautiful, but the whole flow of the weekend. Great to meet new faces and meet up with old familiar faces too. Saturday was a great brainstorming few sessions on the strengths of homebirth in New Zealand, and how to keep moving forward. This included good discussions with representatives from the NZCOM… It was unbelievably valuable. Sharing ideas between the regions over the three days was great. Good topics at the AGM were covered very well and in a very positive light. While AGMs usually aren’t something I enjoy attending, a good number of topics were covered as hoped.” -Tammi Heap