Is it fair to only teach childbirth without actually helping women to give birth? This question had been on Karu’s mind for a long time before she finally found the best balance in her life.
Mother of two, Tamara Karu (Ngāti Tamaterā and Ngāti Tara) was working as Kaiāwhina at Plunket when an option to study childbirth education as part of her professional development came up. She completed her Diploma in Childbirth Education through Aoraki Polytechnic and started teaching childbirth education in Plunket, Huntly Birth Care and Waterford Birth Centre.
But while many would have been satisfied, Tamara never felt like what she was doing was enough.
“I enjoyed my job but I felt like a fraud. I was teaching childbirth, but I wasn’t a practitioner. I wanted to walk alongside women throughout the scope.”
So, she started studying Wintec’s three-year Bachelor of Midwifery. She spent the next six years at Waikato District Health Board working as a lead maternity carer and then as a core midwife for the last two years.
As Maternity Team Lead for Te Puna Oranga, the Waikato District Health Board Māori Health Unit, Karu facilitates Hapū Wānanga ki Tainui, an interactive kaupapa Māori pregnancy, birth and parenting programme, and education for midwives. She also oversees lactation and SUDI (Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy) Māori intervention programmes and works with whānau through wānanga (tertiary organisations). As a Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) midwife, she has chosen to keep a small caseload of just three women so she can be on call to deliver their babies and provide prenatal and postnatal care.
“My current role combines my passion for Māori health equity and experience as a midwife. I love working with whānau and have so much fun making whānau feel at ease about the parenting journey. I now have an intimate understanding of a woman’s maternity journey. I can deliver information as an authority, knowing first-hand the journey women are on because I have had the privilege to walk alongside so many. My philosophy is to inform, inspire and empower.”
“I love being an advocate for women and protecting women’s birthing choices. It is an honour sharing the intimate time and space with whānau and connecting wahine with our birthing traditions.”
