Jade van der Hoorn - Midwife

17/02/2026

H O M E - B I R T H Boxes 💚

We are fortunate to have these home birth boxes offered to whānau intending to home birth in our region, Provided and sourced by our local maternity unit through funding. We as LMC Midwives still carry our emergency gear including oxygen, resus equipment and emergency drugs but these basic kits for me allowed me to reduce the size of my equipment i carry into a home birth!

What's here?
- Sterile birth kit (container for the whenua if whānau do not have one), Sterile swabs
- Birthing scissors sterile for cutting and clamping the cord (pito)
- IVL Access and flush alongside tegaderm
- Catheter material and chlorhexadine (In and out Catheter)
- Pēpi bag (VitaminK oral and injection, tape measure, cord clamp)
- Bluey (Puppy pad)
- Kylie (I brought these this did not come from the hospital)
- Sterile gloves
- Synthetic oxytocin and Syntometine (if needed) i give this to whānau to place in the fridge alongside syringes for administration
- Suturing pack (Swabs, sterile Bluey, scissors)
- Suturing material, Local anaesthetic, Needles and syringes
- Well child book
- Ural sachets
- Non sterile gloves
- Episiotomy scissors
Alot of this goes untouched at a birth, But this is some of the basics we may need at first glance!

Have you had a home birth or seen one? What did the midwife bring along. It can vary across the motu and we are very fortunate to have these materials at no cost for us in the Hutt Valley.

16/02/2026

Thank you to Jacinta an aiga for the beautiful feedback and sharing the birth of Opetaia - A speedy hospital delivery of her 5th pēpi 💚💫

"I was a māmā to 4 and with my previous 4 children I had the same midwife for all 4, I told myself after 30 i will not be having anymore children, plans changed haha. Finding the same midwife I had for my previous 4 children was hard and found out she was now residing in Australia.

Finding Jade was new and was a step I wasnt ready to take initially but that soon changed.

During my pregnancy Jade was amazing, being able to cater to me and my pregnancy needs was tough but she did it. From my late night tantrums to my early hour cramps she was there for me. I was scared to give birth and expose myself to a whole new person, being insecure was a big problem for me but Jade made me feel comfortable.

23rd Febuary 2025 came around and I was a day earlier than my due date - I was feeling tightness and sore. Unfortunately Jade wasnt available but her partner Liz was and she saw me straight away at the Lower Hutt Hospital. I stayed overnight for monitoring as babies movements werent normal, Jade then came through when she came back on call and I loved having Liz help me for a day but I felt like a toddler asking for my midwife and refused to go through with birthing my baby without Jade.

24th Feb came around and every pain that I forgot about came through - I was hungry, tired and most of all scared for my life. I progressed quickly and suddenly I was fully dilated but I just wasnt giving my all to pushing baby out, I felt like a ant going from lying down on my back to kneeling on the bed as nothing felt comfortable. Jade had calmly told me babys head was there and I just needed to take a deep breath and push - being my stubbornself I was yelling at my husband getting uncomfortable and asked Jade if I could step off the bed and lean, as I put my legs down baby came out by in one go & luckily Jade was there to catch baby. Jade was amazing midwife & baby is now 1 week from turning 1. Thank you to Jade and her student Petra who kept me safe & humble, I was lucky to have an amazing midwife for Pepe number 5!"

💚💫

12/02/2026

When I tell people I’m a midwife, they’re often surprised at how much we actually do 🤍

In Aotearoa, midwives can be your Lead Maternity Carer — which means we provide and coordinate your care through pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

And yes — for eligible people in NZ, it’s fully funded.

As both a midwife and a mum, I truly believe continuity of care makes such a difference 🤍

Did you know this about NZ maternity care? 💫

07/02/2026

Some fantastic words of affirmation for support people to use during the labour 👇

05/02/2026

I am excited to have Britney starting her final year placement with me from the 2nd March - 26th April 💫

At Manaaki Midwives we love supporting and guiding our future midwives that is why Britney will also be back with Shari later in the year to finish out her final year of study before becoming a New Graduate Midwife next year!! You may catch Britney at and running clinics during her placement dates above, alongside postnatal visits with consent and for those that are happy, at the birth too!

Students can be involved as much or as little as each whānau decide and are thoroughly supported and guided by us here at Manaaki in all they do!
We appreciate those who are taking the time to consider student involvement or happy for Britney to be involved throughout your hapūtanga (pregnancy) 💚

Looking forward to having you on board Britney! 💫

03/02/2026

Would you consider a 1st year student midwife following through and observing your pregnancy experience and potentially birth and postpartum?

See below 👇

We have a new cohort of student midwives beginning their studies in two weeks! They will be looking to support whānau expecting a baby in our communities from March 2026 onwards.
If you or someone you know is pregnant, is due from March 2026 onwards, and would like to have a first year student, please contact us. Our Bachelor of Midwifery programme has students based in Dunedin, Southland, Central Otago, greater Wellington including Wairarapa, Whanganui, and Palmerston North.
What's in it for you?
* You will have extra support and companionship during your pregnancy and childbirth experience.
* The first-year students are keen to learn how you and your whānau experience pregnancy.
* You are in charge and can decide what you want to share with the student, and our students will be supervised by a lecturer/kaiako at the School of Midwifery.
* Help future generations of midwives to follow through with you and your whānau in a supportive role during pregnancy, childbirth and the early weeks at home with your baby.
Are you interested and due from March 2026?
Please fill in the consent form online here, and our School will be in touch with you in the new year. https://forms.office.com/r/MxKMEK0JT4

Please share this post to your networks. :)

19/01/2026

Did someone say more LMCs across the Hutt Valley?
Check out these wonderful wahine joining the LMC workforce here in the Hutt from the 1st February!

Very exciting that we will have more options for whānau across the region when it comes to midwifery care and providers! You will find a few of them on find your midwife already but otherwise contact info in the post! 💚💫

13/01/2026

💚💫 Hunters post-dates induction and forceps delivery 💫💚

Thank you to the whānau for sharing!

"On 24 September 2023, at 1pm, I was admitted to hospital for induction, 9 days past my due date! Our little man was clearly in no rush to make his entrance! Monitoring began at 2pm, and the balloon was inserted at 6:49pm. It came out on its own at 11:49pm, and by just after midnight I was experiencing mild contractions. I was assessed at 12:05am and was already 4cm dilated.

Contractions intensified quickly. I received an epidural at 1:30am, and by 3am I had progressed to 7cm. Shortly after, I began contracting every three minutes. Around 3:40am, I developed a sudden temperature spike, and Hunter’s heart rate rose to 195bpm, so terbutaline was given to slow the contractions while they worked to stabilise my temperature.

Once everything settled and was normal again, labour was restarted with syntocin via a drip at 5:45am. I received an epidural top-up at 8:30am and reached full dilation by 12pm. I pushed for an hour before obstetrics were called in and reviewed me and observed a further 30 minutes of pushing assisted by my midwife Jade.

With Hunter still not descending and his heart rate becoming a higher than they liked, the team prepared and consented me for an assisted delivery. Forceps were placed, an episiotomy was performed, and our little man finally arrived at 3:03pm on 25 September 2023, weighing 7.7lb.

I used three tanks of gas and two bags of the epidural, but was up in a wheelchair and walking within the hour. Hunter spent his first night in SCBU as he needed some help with his breathing post the birth, and after two nights in hospital, we went home, our hearts overflowing with love.

A massive, heartfelt thank you to my incredible midwife, Jade, for her unwavering support, guidance, and care throughout the entire journey. I truly couldn’t have done it without you! ✨️🩵"

If you have had a birth experience supported by any of our team at Manaaki Midwives and would love to share, We would love to hear it! Normalising all the differing birth stories one by one 💚💫

08/01/2026

💚💫 Just a PSA I will not be taking October clients as I am on leave for a whānau wedding from 12th October - 1st November!

So pause the baby making this month if you want me as a midwife.. 😜

I will be taking clients again from the 11th November as we have the no clients due 10 days either side of leave to make sure were available for our clients births as much as we can be!

I have a couple spaces left for mid - late September still but have booked up for early September! 💚💫

19/12/2025

💚💚🌲🌲💚💚

As the year comes to a close, We at Manaaki Midwives want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! To current clients, old clients and our colleagues across the board we hope you have a safe Christmas and take time to fill your cup! Thank you for letting us support and work alongside yous - forever grateful.

198 families supported this year into bringing there pēpi earthside, including a few sets of twins in there between the 4 of us! 👶

Its been a year, Roll on 2026 and what's ahead for the team here at Manaaki!

- Jade, Gemma, Hayley and Shari 💚

10/12/2025

With my last December pēpi earth-side it's time for a wrap up of this year!

2025 - What a year it's been, I ended on the same total births as 2024 (wild.. that was not on purpose) This time the boys won with 38 baby boys earth-side and 28 baby girls including a set of twin girls ✨💚

Thank you to all the families that chose me as their midwife this year and allowed me to walk these journeys with you. Through the times of joy, times of loss, times of worry and excitement I see you and appreciate you and will think of you and your families this Christmas as I fill my cup with my own tāmariki and husband.

As we farewell 2025, We farewell Lizz from Manaaki Midwives my practice partner since the start and what a ride its been i'll be sad not having you to call on and listen to my crazy thoughts but am excited for your new adventures within the hospital! Do amazing as always friend!

Excited to see what 2026 holds with my old mentor and friend Shari stepping in as my practice partner and building Manaaki even more with our amazing crew Gemma and Hayley by our side!

Heres to 2025 wrap up - what a year its been! ✨💚

14/11/2025

Thank you to the whānau for sharing the wonderful home birth of Elsie Joy! ✨💚

From the moment Jade answered my email and said she would take me on (despite my due date being a week and a half before Christmas) I knew she was going to be the perfect fit to have deliver our baby in our home.

I joked the whole pregnancy that I would do everything I could to go into labour early so she didn’t have to worry about a Christmas delivery………

Well the 23rd of December rolled around and still no sign of baby (41+ 3) so I text Jade at 8:30 my plans to try midwives brew. By 9 am had drunk the entire thing (gross but nice?!).

9:20 I had my bloody show which upon reflection makes me think labour was likely to have been that day, midwives brew or not. However it definitely seemed to get things cranking. Yikes is all I can say.

9:50 Our firstborn was picked up by some beautiful family members (my contractions were 3 minutes apart and 1 minute long but didn’t feel intense enough yet. Josh (Husband) started filling the birth pool.

10:30 I climbed into the pool and after 2 MASSIVE contractions, Josh suggested we call Jade. On the call I told Jade I wasn’t feeling pushy but the contractions were intense (totally down playing the reality!!!!!!!) however the beauty of having a midwife walk alongside your entire pregnancy meant that she knew I was closer to baby time that I realised. She reassured me and said I was doing great then talked to Josh saying she would finish with her client in clinic and be round asap.

11:00 After getting too hot in the birth pool I moved to the lounge to labour on the ground, crunching ice like crazy to try cool down. At this point my groans changed enough that Josh and I looked at each other like “oh snap. Where are the midwives”😅

11:09 My waters broke (with my son my waters broke and he was born 10 minutes later) so this added to Joshs hidden panic that the midwives weren’t here yet.

Thankfully before Josh changed his vocation to midwife, arriving 1 minute after the assistant midwife (11:12), Jade breezed in the door and said “hi darling I’m here, you’re doing so well” and wow the relief that brought was unbelievable. After several contractions and coaching from Jade, Elsie was caught by Josh at 11:20.

After the whirlwind of a fast labour and delivery, I struggled a bit with bleeding and shock, however Jade was sooo calm and helped in every way she could to get me and Elsie as comfortable as possible while doing fundal massage to get my bleeding under control. The professionalism of Jade, her ability to command the room with peace and assuredness, and her beautiful caring nature and support for mamas, babies, and their whānau is truely a divine gifting. Thank you so much Jade 💓

- Thank you guys for sharing your special moments bringing Elsie earthside, if you're had a birthing experience with any of the Manaaki Midwives you're happy to share. Please get in touch, lets normalise birth together! 💚✨