Pregnancy Educational Talanoa

The Tīna Initiative

The Tīna Initiative project was established in 2020 by three Wellington Pacific Midwives to create and provide culturally appropriate Pacific pregnancy education and information talanoa for Pacific women and their families in the Wellington region, namely Wellington central and Porirua.

Our pregnancy education classes are for all mums, whether it be their first baby or third baby. Mums and their aiga can always learn something new in caring for their babies and their pregnancy journey.

Join A Talanoa

Lemasani, Kelly and baby Te Ahurei

Penina Fitisemanu and Fana Temese-To’omaga

Pasefika Midwives For Pasefika Women

To date there have been no antenatal classes facilitated by Pacific Midwives with a pacific lens and focus for Pacific women.

We saw a huge need in the communities and wanted to create a space that we hope is more accessible and relevant for the Pacific women in our care, in turn providing them with the necessary knowledge for the best outcomes for their pregnancies, labour and birth and postnatal experiences.

Who we are

Join a Pasefika Pregnancy Talanoa

The talanoa will be facilitated by ourselves and run monthly from July 2022. We will alternate our venues from Wellington to Porirua to cater to all our women and provide free transport for those women who require it to and from the venues. A support person is encouraged to come with you, but due to Covid we can only limit that support to one person.

Our talanoa will run from 6.00pm to 8.30pm and be 1 session each week for 2 weeks, to cover all the information you will need to prepare you for your journey into Motherhood.

Our talanoa will be interactive, Pacific focussed and appropriate, visually engaging and fun with lots of laughter along the way!

We will provide refreshments (meals) during the classes ISLAND STYLE but healthy versions!

Finally we will provide some practical Pacific resources to take home that can be very useful during your labour.

If this sounds like something you would like to come along to, please click on the ‘Join A Talanoa’ below to see the talanoa dates and to register.

We are very excited to meet you and be part of the journey.

Ia manuia,

Penina and Fana

Join A Talanoa

Our Talanoa Include Information About:

Pregnancy Talanoa

We will talanoa about your pregnancy journey so far, what to expect in the coming weeks, your entitlements and expectations, your body changes, preparing yourself and aiga for labour and birth.

Labour and Birth Talanoa

Our talanoa will focus on labour techniques, options for labour and birth, pain management, supports in labour, types of births and much more.

After Birth Talanoa

The last talanoa will focus on what to expect after birth, including feeding options, newborn behaviour, mother crafting, recovery (both mental and physical), aiga dynamics and after care with your midwife.

Join A Talanoa

We saw a huge need in the communities we worked in to have this available and accessible for the Pacific women we cared for to provide knowledge necessary for the best outcomes for their pregnancies, labour and birth and postnatal experiences.