The Mother Well

12/11/2025

Kia ora koutou,
Our next and final gathering for 2025 will be on Friday November 21st from 10:30-12:30 in Hamama. All are welcome!
Birth Wisdom meets on the 3rd Friday of each month, as a space to connect with others about our journeys in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Babies and little people are welcome in the space, as are partners, and wider family members.
Please bring some kai to share for morning tea if you can. Hot drinks provided.
Please PM for address details or email birthwisdomgb@gmail.com to sign up to our personal invite list.
Ngā mihi mahana,
Alesha 🩵

Kia ora koutou,

Our next and final gathering for 2025 will be on Friday November 21st from 10:30-12:30 in Hamama. All are welcome!

Birth Wisdom meets on the 3rd Friday of each month, as a space to connect with others about our journeys in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Babies and little people are welcome in the space, as are partners, and wider family members.
Please bring some kai to share for morning tea if you can. Hot drinks provided.

Please PM for address details or email birthwisdomgb@gmail.com to sign up to our personal invite list.

Ngā mihi mahana,
Alesha 🩵

20/10/2025

Home for tea.
I've been away for a few days, witness to and in support of, a triumphant hospital birth.
The smell of baking hit me as my sleep deprived body relaxed back into home.
Life is far from perfect social media shots, but a safe home and son who likes baking cookies is worth a moment of gratitude.
Happy birthday little miracle baby ✨

20/09/2025

06/09/2025

Thank you for all the nominations for the Father's Day giveaway massage.
The winner has been drawn from the magic teapot 🫖✨ and will be contacted today.

01/09/2025

*Update*
Thank you for all the nominations so far. I haven't replied to all the messages but will compile and draw on Sunday. Still another day to go on this one. Be well whānau 💚

06/08/2025

Alongside my work with The Mother Well, I am studying towards a degree in social work.
I was chuffed to read this wee note in my human development textbook today: "...women who experienced doula care were 53% less likely to have a cesarean delivery and 58% less likely to have postpartum depression."
I love being a doula! It is as natural to me as being woman, mother, sister, friend 💚

16/04/2025

🥘Those that know me well, know how passionate I am about perinatal nutrition.
🥘The upside to my personal experience of having learnt the hard way through my own healing journey, is that I have gained so many tools in health and healing, to support myself, my family and my clients.
🥘Here's a good listen, while on your next walk or putting your legs up. How good is The Midwives Cauldron! So many amazing interviews.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7MeE5hlkGr2PZLXfDaIgcu?si=NfDVbdBJS8SsddrK3LxSVA

The Midwives' Cauldron · Episode

06/03/2025

For my "work" today, I got to take a little angel for a walk to the beach. Her māmā had a bit of time out, pēpi napped to the sound of the gulls and lapping waves, and my heart was soothed by the overflowing sweetness.

04/02/2025

Kia ora,

Birth Wisdom - Empowered and Home Birth in Golden Bay is bringing a new Home Birth doco to the Village Theatre in Golden Bay this Sunday 9 February at 1pm.
The film explores the experiences, challenges and power of home birthing in Aotearoa, highlighting personal stories and expert insights to encourage informed discussions about place of birth options. The film is produced by Sarah Dow, directed by Isaac Te Reina and funded by Health New Zealand.

Here is a link to the trailer: https://youtu.be/WkekL_QdLsI?si=WW5xbU-Rti9KtvJ0
And to the event: https://www.facebook.com/share/1KppDKwa7F/

The tickets are discounted to $15 for an adult and you can buy them online (https://www.villagetheatre.org.nz/) or at the door. It has a 45-minute run time and there will be drinks, snacks and chats afterwards, free to share with an optional koha. No money being made here, just sweet, sweet community.

With thanks to Home Birth Documentary , Home Birth Aotearoa and the Village Theatre for supporting this event to happen.

21/01/2025

Packing up for postpartum home visits. It takes a bit of time, but it's so wonderful to be able to offering some nurturing care without māmā having to work to get out the door on time. Baby is often more settled at home and it's such sweetness for me to share in a moment of their precious 4th trimester. Heart work, again and again 💚

05/01/2025

Kia ora māmā,

I'm looking for 1-2 hapū māmā who may wish to journey with me in receiving a discounted series of traditional Maya abdominal pregnancy massage.

I adore this massage protocol, though I find it is less taken up as it's a bit vague as to what it is.
"The full in-person Abdominal Therapy treatment involves an external massage of your entire abdomen, back, hips, and sacrum. Massaging these areas systematically and thoroughly optimizes the circulation of all the systems in your body. We call this NAVEL: Nerve, Arterial and Venous blood, Energy, and Lymph.
As our gift to you, your therapist will teach you how to perform Your Abdominal Massage (YAM) at home to support your health goals."
https://www.abdominaltherapycollective.com/about-abdominal-therapy

This is a beautiful, relaxing treatment to support the stretching uterine ligaments and hard working pelvis of pregnancy. It is a 90 minute experience, in which the māmā is reclined on the massage table, supported by many, many cushions and draped for comfort.

I'm mindful of cultural appropriation when calling this treatment "Mayan" and "traditional". But actually, it is. I trained with the Abdominal Therapy Collective, founded and instructed by Dr Rosita Arvigo DN, who apprenticed to midwife Miss Hortense Robinson and shaman Don Elijio Panti. You can read about these people, their incredible journey together and their ongoing cultural and environment projects here: https://www.abdominaltherapycollective.com/origin-and-lineage . There are some inspiring videos about them on YouTube also: https://www.youtube.com//videos

I would like to connect with māmā who are able to commit to 3x 90 minute sessions around 30 weeks, 35 weeks and 38 weeks. (Technique varies slightly as the baby comes to term.)
There can be more if desired. The cost is usually sliding scale $100-$120 per session, however I am offering the 3 session journey for $240 in total.

Please reach out to me if you are interested.
Ngā mihi nui,
Alesha