Active Birth Taranaki Inc.

04/10/2026

We are still after another couple for our photoshoot tomorrow - please reach out to us if you may be available and recieve a 10 minute maternity photoshoot for your time! 🥰

04/10/2026

Some Flourish Taranaki offerings are continuing through the school holidays

01/10/2026

Photoshoot - pregnant couples needed

Are you currently pregnant and available next Tuesday, 6 October?

Active Birth Taranaki is looking for a couple of hapū māmā and their partners to be part of a photoshoot showcasing our Choices in Childbirth classes💛

As a thank you for your time, you’ll receive a 10-minute maternity photoshoot with your partner.

If you’re interested, we’d love to hear from you! Or please feel free to share this with any of your hapū friends who might be keen.

Send us a message if you’d like to be involved!

16/09/2026

This Baby Loss Awareness Week, landmarks across the Aotearoa will glow pink, blue and purple in remembrance of the babies who are loved, missed, and never forgotten.

We are so grateful to all the councils and businesses supporting their bereaved communities. We are still waiting on some confirmations, but this is who is confirmed lighting up so far this year:

-Ashburton: Clock Tower
-Auckland: Eden Park, Aotea Square, Mission Bay Fountain
-Blenheim: Clock Tower
-Christchurch: Airport Terminal and Sign, ONE NZ Stadium, Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū
-Cromwell: Welcome Sign
-Dunedin: Tūhura Otago Museum, St Paul's Cathedral, Toitū Otago Settlers Museum
-Feilding: Clock Tower
-Foxton: Clock Tower
-Gisborne: Clock Tower
-Hamilton: Victoria Bridge
-Matamata: Town Clock
-Nelson: Clock Tower, Cathedral, Top of Trafalgar St
-New Plymouth: Clock Tower
-Ōamaru: Opera House
-Palmerston North: Hopwood Clock Tower
-Taupō: Great Lakes Centre
-Tauranga: Wharf St Lights, Trunks Reserve, Masonic Park, Beacon Wharf, Waterfront Playground, Waterfront Park-North
-Te Aroha: Clock Tower
-Upper Hutt: Fantail Welcome Sculpture
-Wellington: Cable Car Tunnels, Michael Fowler Centre, Carter Fountain, Queens Wharf Sails
-Westport: Clock Tower
-Whanganui: Royal Whanganui Opera House, War Memorial
-Whangārei: Victoria Canopy Bridge, Laurie Hall Park, Cameron St Canopy

🧡💜

16/09/2026

WHY WE LOVE OUR LMC MIDWIVES 🤍

Because she doesn’t just meet us at the birth.

She gets to know us long before it.

She comes into our home.
She sits with us.
She listens to our hopes, our fears and our birth plans.
She gets to know our whānau.

And when the time comes, she comes to our home.

No rushing to hospital.
No unfamiliar room.
No handing over our care to a stranger.

Just the people we have built trust with, in the place we have chosen to welcome our pēpi.

She knows when to quietly observe.
When to offer reassurance.
When to suggest a change of position.
When to reach for the Doppler.
And when to simply step back and let birth unfold.

She supports us to make informed decisions, while respecting that this is our birth, our body and our pēpi.

And after birth, she doesn’t disappear.

She comes back.

She checks on māmā.
She checks on pēpi.
She supports feeding, recovery and the transition into life with a new baby.

Our LMC is there long before birth, throughout birth, and long after pēpi arrives. 🤍

She is a familiar, trusted presence through one of the biggest experiences of our lives.

And that continuity is something we love about maternity care in Aotearoa. 🇳🇿🤍

To all the LMC midwives who walk alongside whānau thank you.

Tell us about your LMC midwife …
what made them special for your whānau? 🥰

16/09/2026

Kia ora koutou,

We wanted to share with whānau info about Baby Loss Awareness Week, which takes place each year from 9th to 15th of October.

This week provides a specific opportunity to remember our babies, acknowledge the experience of bereaved whānau and raise awareness. While baby loss conversations are becoming more common, there is still much work to do so whānau feel supported, understood and less alone.

Many Sands groups are in the process of organising remembrance events. These will be shared on the Sands NZ page and in this group.

Since 2021 Sands NZ has organised Light up Aotearoa, with landmarks being lit up pink, blue and purple during Baby Loss Awareness Week. It started as 21 landmarks and has grown to well over 40, creating acknowledgement throughout Aotearoa.

A special part of this week is the Global Wave of Light, held on 15th October, International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. At 7.00pm, bereaved whānau light a candle in memory of their precious baby or babies. We begin the wave of light in Aotearoa, setting off a continuous wave of light and aroha that wraps around the globe.

To coincide with this, Sands NZ hosts an online memorial where we speak your babies’ names and light a candle in their memory if you wish. It is a gentle opportunity to hold space and remember their precious lives.

In the coming days we will share links to our online memorial and details of the landmarks participating in Light up Aotearoa.

There are lots of ways to be a part of Baby Loss Awareness Week. You can choose to attend a local Sands event, join our online memorial, visit and photograph one of the lit landmarks, share a social media post or light a candle and spend some quiet time remembering your baby.

We know this week can bring a range of emotions, whether your loss was recent or many years ago. And if taking part feels too difficult, that is absolutely ok. You don’t need to do anything at all. Whether you choose to participate in several events, one small act of remembrance, or none at all, please know your baby is remembered and your grief is valid, and there is no right or wrong way to navigate this week.

16/09/2026

Te Wiki o te reo Māori 🖤

This week, we celebrate Te Reo Māori and the opportunity it gives us all to learn, share and incorporate kupu Māori into our everyday lives.

We acknowledge the amazing kaupapa Māori organisations in our community, including Hapū Wānanga Taranaki and Te Puāwaitanga Midwives who are supporting whānau and helping reconnect traditional Māori birthing practices.

Feel free to explore these kupu hou (new words) and consider incorporating them into your hapūtanga journey. Small steps can make a meaningful difference in strengthening and celebrating te reo Māori.

Kia kaha te reo Māori!

14/09/2026

Make sure to vote for Bellyful New Plymouth they are such an amazing support for our community

Today is your last day to vote for Bellyful New Plymouth in the good in the hood at Z Huatoki!

11/09/2026

✨Birth Pool available for hire ✨

We’re excited to announce that our Coconut Milk birth pool is now available to Taranaki māmā and whānau to hire through our website. Ngā mihi to the ladies at https://www.facebook.com/the.creatives.np/directory_links for all your work supporting us with this and getting this live.

Birth pools have so many benefits, the water can create a calm, nurturing space for labour, helping you to relax, move freely and find comfort as you follow your body through the birth process.

The details:
🌸4-week hire period - your hire begins around 2–3 weeks before your due date
🌸$250 total, including a $50 refundable bond
🌸 Everything you need is included - birth pool, single-use liner, cover, air pump, thermometer, sieve, hoses, bilge pump and storage box.

The pool is available to collect by arrangement and can be used throughout your labour and birth, with return arranged after your baby arrives.

If you’re considering using water during labour or planning a water birth, head to our website to find out more https://www.activebirthtaranaki.org.nz/birth-pool-hire, and secure your booking – any questions please feel free to reach out!

Super grateful to Home Birth Aotearoa for providing the funding that made it possible for us to purchase this pool for our community, helping to make access to supported, empowered homebirth a little easier.

11/09/2026

Some books have recently made their way back to our lending library from a mama who has just had a beautiful homebirth. 🤍

We have a growing collection of books from a range of different authors and perspectives, covering pregnancy, birth, postpartum and early parenthood.

We love being able to offer resources that help you feel informed, prepared and supported, while giving you the space to explore different options and make choices that feel right for you and your whānau.