It's that first cry, the moment the world changes and families have a new baby to care for, it's the hope of the future wrapped up in a mother's arms. While there is no shortage of love for little babies, the support for mothers is slim.
The 59,382 births registered across the motu for the year to September 2021 were hindered by Covid-19 rules that restricted support for women giving birth.
Now a petition is taking over social media asking the government to make sense of the Covid restrictions and get these māmā some support.
Hallie Campbell started a petition asking the government to "make sense" of the Covid restriction that allows for only one support person.
While there have been changes in some areas, Campbell says it doesn't go far enough.
"Auckland Hospital currently allows two people and a couple of the birth centres allowed two people but the others are just one. So even, you know, even increasing by one would make a huge change for so many people."
The numbers of signatures continue to rise and reached 9000 in just one day, and stories of mothers and families struggling with the rules are flooding in.
"A young teenage mom who only had a teenage partner there. And she said,' we really need our mum's there to support us' and things like that. Or another woman whose baby didn't make it. And she was just there with her partner and they needed that other person or people to be there for them," Campbell says.
Te Ao Māori News spoke to one mother who said she and her partner had to have a conversation about whether it would be better for her and the baby to have the support of her mother or her partner in what was her first pregnancy.
Campbell describes it as heartbreaking. "People's lives change right in front of you and for people having to miss out on seeing that and being part of it, it's just heartbreaking."
Campbell says, "We can go to the pub and everyone take off their mask and get drunk together or go shopping and mingling and eating together and things like this. But we can't have even just that one more support person next to you at birth to ensure you've got that support you need."
Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said visitor policies at district health boards were set by the boards and said their decisions were made by experts in infection control.
Campbell says, "Mask them, RAT-test them if that’s what it takes, but we need our birth supports."
Verrall responded by saying, "There are all sorts of mitigations possible but they need to be weighed up with the environment."
Māori and Pasifika are having children more than anyone else in the country and culturally the support of whānau and loved ones is of utmost importance