31 Oct 2014

Hamilton hosts Hapu Wananga classes

11:12 am on 31 October 2014

Young parents-to-be in Hamilton have become the first to attend a new series of parenting courses based on the kaupapa Maori approach.

The Waikato District Health Board is running eleven two-day Hapu Wananga or workshops.

The antenatal and parenting days include talks on immunisation, healthy eating and smoking.

But traditional skills are also included, like how to grow vegetable seedlings and muka - a flax tie for the umbilical cord.

The Waikato DHB's general manager of Maori health, Ditre Tamatea, said the range was needed to help draw more people into accessing the services.

He said at the moment there were largely mainstream services, which do not tend to be well-accessed by Maori.

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