Te Aka Whai Ora is investing in Turuki Health Care to implement a maternity and early years’ service delivery model grounded in te ao Māori that will deliver care in a child’s first 2,000 days and beyond. 

Turuki Health Care is one of 40 community-based hauora Māori partners across the motu to receive funding from Te Aka Whai Ora as part of Kahu Taurima. Kahu Taurima is the joint approach between Te Aka Whai Ora and Te Whatu Ora on maternity and early years – pre-conception to five years old, or the first 2,000 days of life – for all whānau in Aotearoa.  

Turuki Health Care has nearly 30 years of experience supporting the local community and delivering primary health care services in Counties Manukau and across Tāmaki Makaurau. 

Its maternity and early years’ services include offering antenatal wānanga focused on culturally informed, whānau-centred birthing, B4Baby antenatal breastfeeding education and postnatal support for breastfeeding māmā, Family Start - early parenting and social support, Start Well and specialist support for teen parents and their support people. 

It also offers whānau-focused education programme Poipoia te Mokopuna which aims to support parents and caregivers to nurture tamariki and their early years learning, and the Positive Parenting Programme to provide whānau with positive strategies on raising their tamariki. 

Photo / Cara Graham Photography

Te Aka Whai Ora Maiaka Hapori Deputy Chief Executive, Public and Population Health, Selah Hart, says this investment will enable a continuity of care throughout pregnancy, birth, and a child’s early years. 

“Te Aka Whai Ora funding will allow Turuki Health Care to expand existing services alongside a model of care that tracks the health and wellbeing of whānau, from when pregnancy until their pēpi is five“. 

“It is also the intention that tamariki who have used its Kahu Taurima-funded services will then graduate into Turuki Health Care’s school-based health team, later use its primary healthcare services if needed, and may even return to use Turuki Health Care’s maternity and early years services when they are hapū themselves, therefore setting pēpi up for a lifetime of good health and wellbeing. 

“Through its long-term and intergenerational relationships, Turuki Health Care is able to monitor the impact of their services from years before. These positive shifts will support the system now and for generations to come.” 

The CEO of Turuki Health Care, Te Puea Winiata, says after decades of offering maternity and early years’ services grounded in te ao Māori, her organisation knows what works for whānau. 

“We are so excited about this funding because it is allowing us to look at our existing services and enhance what we know is working well. We are also working with our other partners to extend the range of services where we see gaps in service provision. We have taken a locality-based approach to this development so there is choice and easier access to the services whānau told us they needed during our community consultation phase”. 

“Kahu Taurima as an overarching strategy for maternity and early years, the mahi that has already been put into it, and the allocation of funding to hauora Māori partners to co-design services that best suit the needs of their communities, is significant. We are proud to be involved.” 

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