Inhabit Postpartum brought creative making 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 are 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.

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“Postpartum” refers to the “time after childbirth”. Whether you have delivered a baby, experienced a miscarriage, abortion or other pregnancy loss, you are in postpartum and should receive support for your physical and emotional healing. This includes protected rest, nourishing meals, and mental and emotional healthcare as your body and hormones adjust. At INHABIT, we believe this support shouldn’t be limited to the first handful of weeks; our bodies and hearts hold the lived experience of postpartum forever. You deserve to be supported by wrap-around care as you heal from birth and beyond.

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Inhabit's Community Postpartum Care Center is a space where we examine how community, cultural and whānau postpartum care has changed in Aotearoa, how we share our experiences in real-time and as oral history. We ask, what do we know about our lineage's postpartum traditions and experiences? And how we can incorporate community care to heal across generations collectively. By combining care ethics with social practice and reproductive justice models, we bring diverse voices into conversation to explore systems of change. 

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What if we were to truly Inhabit Postpartum?

Research shows us that when birthing people are supported from birth, through postpartum and beyond, they experience faster physical and emotional healing, have reduced rates of postpartum depression and anxiety, better infant feeding outcomes, and an easier transition into new parenthood. It also shows us that when we show up and care for each other, we build stronger communities with better health outcomes. 

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Through our Inhabit Postpartum pop-up spaces and online programming, our goal is to offer birthing and postpartum families free community postpartum support, education and accessible care to build happier, healthier and safer families in Aotearoa. 

 

”Postpartum depression affects up to 15% of mothers after they have given birth, with lack of support given as a factor.” Sourced from: depression.org.nz

”Maternal suicide in NZ is five times higher than in the UK with Maori women overrepresented.” Sourced from: hqsc.org.nz