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Inhabit Postpartum,
Iteration 2
Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, 2023

The second activation of Inhabit Postpartum was open from March 6th through April 1st, 2023, at the Fale Community House, 50a Rosebank Road, Avondale. It was made possible with generous support from the Whau Local Board and Auckland City Council Creative Communities Scheme. 
 

Inhabit Postpartum brought creative making, installation and community centered postpartum care together to make visible the lived experience of m/otherhood and parenting. The exhibitions were open in Wellington (2022) and Auckland (2023), providing free postpartum support to the public, while examining our ever evolving community, cultural and whānau approaches to postpartum care. 

 

Programming and workshops were facilitated by experienced perinatal professionals, including birth and postpartum doulas, lactation consultants, pelvic floor specialists and therapists, as well as artists and makers. The workshops, classes and community offerings were rooted in anti-oppressive, trauma-informed practices, and inclusive of all sexual orientations, gender identities and body sizes. Inhabit was warm and nurturing, a safe, inclusive space that was accessible and welcoming to all communities – there is one thing that we have in common, we have all been born.

 

Audiences where invited join us for a cup of tea or a bowl of soup and a chat and be held, seen and supported as we unpacked the intricate web of feelings that bind us together after we give birth and truly Inhabit Postpartum.

The following community members were co-creators, participants and caregivers

Janine Philips (He uri ahau no Ngati Whatua, Te Ati Hau Nui a Paparangi me Rarotonga) Ae Ka Taea e Koe Limite

Linda Lee (Ngati Kuri, Ngāī Takoto, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōri, Ngāti Raukawa ki Ōtaki) Artist www.sharedlineskaikoura.com  www.sharedlines.wordpress.com

Vanessa Werner; Doula and Breathwork Facilitator www.vanessawernerbirthcare.com

The Tīpuna Project, co-lead by Teah Carlson (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Porou, Waikato-Tainui) and Rachel Liebert (Ngāti Pākehā) www.loveisyou.org  

www.racheljaneliebert.com

Sherylee Teoh; Kangatrainging NZ Country Leader and West Auckland Instructor www.kangatraining.co.nz

Chloe Holloway; Birth and Postpartum Doula 

Susie Trinh; Slingbabies Volunteer and Babywearing Instructor www.slingbabies.co.nz

Workshops and Programing 

Workshops were scheduled daily from 10:30-12:30pm. Participants were then invited to contribute to the project by engaging in group and individual discussion whilst sharing soup and tea. Everyone was encouraged to add a thought or feeling to the post-it wall as a response to their experience, or as a message to a past, future or current postpartum self, friend or whānau member.

 

Workshops included;

Ae Ka Taea E Koe (Yes You Can) & Mirimiri Healing

Inhabit Making

C-Section: How we birth impacts how we parent

Breathwork: How we breathe is how you feel

Babywearing Workshop

The Tīpuna Project: a participatory action research project to creatively experiment with the decolonial possibilities of ancestral mahi - from healing for Māori to accountability for Pākehā.

Cooking to Heal the Postpartum Body

Birthstory Processing with Watercolors 

Kangatraining

Awakening the Taniwha

New Parent Support Group: Mental Health

New Parent Support Group: Identity Shifts and Relationship Transitions

New Parent Support Group: Infant Feeding

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