Māori mothers experiences of antenatal care in Aotearoa: The roles of support, wellbeing, and cultural identity

Antenatal care (ANC) is imperative to maternal and fetal short and long-term health outcomes; however, the accessibility and experiences of these services for Indigenous Māori mothers remains understudied in Aotearoa. This thesis examines the perspectives of pregnant Māori women on this issue by discussing the structural, treatment, and systemic levels of ANC. Focus groups were held with three currently pregnant and twelve recently pregnant Māori women. Participants were asked questions about how they define antenatal support and wellbeing, whether they felt these definitions were attended to during ANC, and how they thought their cultural identity operated in their experiences. Thematic analysis was used to examine their collective responses, with five themes on the nature of their experiences identified: mana motuhake, identity, holistic wellbeing, continuity, and whakawhanaungatanga. Implementing these themes to assess how participants experienced ANC in Aotearoa, I conclude by discussing how self-determination is socially and politically relevant in ANC for Māori women’s wellbeing, what identity-in-care is to Māori mothers, and how antenatal health policy and organisations could be shaped to better meet their needs.