Pacific Women’s Experiences of Maternity

Join historian Rachel Schmidt for this Heritage Festival talk about Pacific women’s experiences of pregnancy and early motherhood during 1950-1995.

Rachel Schmidt will talk about how the experiences of Pacific women who became mothers in Auckland from the years 1950-1995 emerges from the peripheries of childbirth histories in New Zealand. This presentation brings the stories and voices of twelve Pacific mothers to the fore, shedding light on the nuances of maternity history in New Zealand. This study also discusses the value of oral history in preserving, informing and leaving behind first-hand accounts of what it meant to be a woman, a Pacific Islander and a mother during a period of social change in New Zealand.

Photo: Back row, left to right: Mark, Mr Peteru, Clark and Carmel. Front row, from left to right: Jesse, Karameli, Baby Andrew, Alvina and Elena, about 1969-1970. (Scanned with permission from Andrew Peteru).

This event will be held in the Whare Wānanga on L2 of Central City Library if we are at level one and online via Zoom whatever level we are on.

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