Weaving love and protection around newborns at the beginning of their life is at the heart of Leanne Emery's passion for the pregnant mums she encounters.

Leanne, who works at Ngāti Ranginui iwi as the SUDI prevention coordinator for the Western Bay of Plenty, says the SUDI or ‘sudden unexpected death in infancy' statistics are still far too high.

'Sadly a lot of people don't realise that around 50 per cent of SUDI that occur are preventable,” says Leanne. 'This is why it's so important to ensure baby have their own safe sleep space.”

She says there used to be about 250 cot deaths each year in New Zealand.

Still way too many

'Since changing to sleeping our babies on their backs, we have now reduced that to about 50 a year.

'This is a great reduction, but that's still way too many, which is why I am so passionate about the mahi/work that I do, if I can help prevent any whanau from experiencing the sad loss of a child through SUDI.”

Making a wahakura. Photo: Supplied.

To address this, she and her team have created a programme called Te Piripoho, which is all about empowering whanau to help keep a baby safe.

'When I started this mahi the SUDI stats were going up and safe sleeping spaces being used were decreasing. After discussions with midwives, the biggest feedback I got was that people who wanted to weave a wahakura – a safe sleep space for their pēpē/baby out of harakeke/flax – found it hard to access unless they were a smoker,” says Leanne.

'So we created Te Piripoho, where we started running free waikawa wahakura wānanga over two days during the weekend for anyone, with hāpu/pregnant mums having first priority.”

Weaving a wahakura. Photo: Supplied

Anyone can buy a wahakura or woven baby bed, but Leanne says that what they don't realise is that a wahakura is not only weaving harakeke/ flax together you are also weaving your whakapapa/ genealogy together to help keep your pēpē safe.

Jasmine Kingi. Photo: Poihakena Portraits.

'Every single person that puts their hands on the harakeke/flax and helps to weave it puts their love, protection and intentions for your treasured pēpē into the weave of their waikawa wahakura," says Leanne.

Honouring the hāpu

Leanne says Te piripoho is all about honouring the hāpu/pregnant mum for the great job she is doing carrying, loving, nuturing and growing her whakapapa/ future generations inside her.

Weaving a wahakura. Photo: Supplied

'A lot of people don't realise when we are hapu/pregnant we don't just carry our baby, we are also carrying our moko/grandchildren as our babies are born with their eggs for the future,” says Leanne.

'In today's society a lot of the time, we are so busy working to try and make ends meet, keep up with housework, rush round keeping up with daily tasks as well as trying to prepare for the expected arrival of the pēpē/baby, that we often don't take the time to just stop and honour ourselves for the amazing experience we are going through."

A finished wahakura. Photo: Supplied.

'Te Piripoho is a place where you can take a few days to just honour and enjoy your pregnancy, mix with other hāpu māmā, embrace your journey, feel supported and be empowered," says Leanne.

At each Te Piripoho weekend there is a weaving team that help guide each pregnant hāpu mama in making their waikawa wahakura.

There is also an antenatal photo shoot by Poihakena Portraits, where the beauty of the pregnancy is captured, and a mirimiri/ massage at the end of the wānanga.

Cheyjuana Doyle and her beautiful whanau. Photo: Poihakena Portraits.

Each hāpu mama is also gifted a breast pump to help them on their breastfeeding journey and as well as a generous dental voucher from Toothfairy Dental.

'Recently Te Piripoho was very fortunate to gain some extra funding as well as being funded by Ngāti Ranginui iwi. We also now have funding for the Te Piripoho wānanga from community operations and Te Hiringa Hauora which means we able to implement some of the new ideas we had for Te Piripoho.”

Infant CPR (sidehead)

The further funding means that, as well as weaving a waikawa wahakura, each hāpu mama and whanau member that attends participates in an infant CPR and choking training during the wānanga.

A group that has completed the Te Piripoho weekend. Photo: Supplied.

'We have some great support service providers come in during the wānanga with a korero/ talk about how they can help or support you - from healthy homes, dental, lactation consultant, Plunket, Pepi ora, and Sport Bay of Plenty," says Leanne.

'We have a partner's session where they make lavender kawakawa balm, to use on mum or the baby. This is a great opportunity where they are able to talk with other expectant partners around the journey ahead and how they are feeling, or share any patai/questions they have about the birth and expected arrival of their treasured baby.”

Attendees to Te Piripoho also receive a 0-5 carseat and shown how to install it correctly.

'Te Piripoho doesn't just weave wahakura together, we weave Hāpu māmā and whānau together,” says Leanne.

Free drop-in day

'Since Covid people have been very cautious about what they do or who they are around. Te Piripoho provides a great opportunity for you to be embraced, empowered and mix with other Hāpu māmā and whanau to compare stories, questions/patai or just your pregnancy journey.”

A group that has completed the Te Piripoho weekend. Photo: Supplied.

As Te Piripoho is big on breaking down barriers for whanau, they have also introduced a free drop-in day at Rangiora Health Hub at Fraser Cove every Monday at 10.30am, where they bring in a different service each week, such as hypno-birthing, Rongoa session, essential oils workshop, homeopathy, lactation consultant, intro to solids, sleep specialist, carseat safety, CPR and choking training.

'We are also trialling free aqua aerobics this year on Fridays for hapu or new mums,” says Leanne.

Anyone who would like to know more about Te Piripoho or the free drop-in day and aqua aerobics can contact Leanne Emery on the Te Piripoho Facebook page or email: leanne.Emery@ranginui.co.nz