Pregnant women can prepare better for their new babies thanks to the new Pregnancy Care Centre ‘Nui Rarotonga’ – a free community-based course focused on empowering women with knowledge and support about pregnancy, birth and baby’s arrival.

The initiative came about from conversations between parents and Cook Islands Child Welfare Association (CICWA) volunteers at Paunu, said Volunteer Services Abroad (VSA) plunket nurse Molly Dalton who is the Early Childhood Nurse/Well-Child Trainer.

“New mums shared their stories with us and expressed that they would have liked some more information and support during their pregnancies – particularly around what to expect and how to prepare for labour and birth,” said Dalton.

“The volunteers connected with other women in the community who saw an opportunity to work together to create this service, and the idea for Nui Rarotonga was born.”

Discussions with Te Marae Ora Ministry of Health have been held to deliberate the best way forward in providing the antenatal course in the community.

Designed for pregnant women/vaine nui and their support people such as partner, husband, mother, sister and friend, the course will cover topics such as healthy pregnancy, preparing for labour and birth, roles of support people, and the early days of parenting.

There has been “welcoming” positive feedback and a lot of interest shown from mothers and their support people. “We are really pleased some have registered for the course already,” said Dalton.

Cook Islands Child Welfare Association president Rose Emanuel-Kairua said: “I’m really excited about the start of this course for our expecting mothers, which is needed in our community.”

The Nui Rarotonga six-week programme starts tomorrow (Wednesday, May 3) from 5pm at the Child Welfare office premises located on the backroad of Takuvaine alongside the Cook Islands National Council of Women, and the Cook Islands National Disability Council headquarters.

Registrations are still open, you can register for the course via the Nui Rarotonga Facebook page or text 55244.