The Sixteenth Annual Report of the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (PMMRC) has revealed stark disparities in maternal and perinatal health among Māori.
Zoe Witika-Hawke, the chief executive of family service E Tipu e Rea, expressed her concern: “We were saddened because things were not moving in the right direction as Māori.”
She also highlighted the discomfort many young Māori whānau fltl when accessing mainstream services. “They feel that a lot of services judged them on who they were as Māori and not with the holistic cultural lens and support that they needed. Therefore they did not return, nor did they even try and access it in the first place because they were used to that sort of framework that didn’t incorporate that Māori lens.”
Covering data from 2007 to 2021, the report highlights that maternal mortality rates for Māori and Pacific mothers remain more than double those of New Zealand European mothers.
Covid-19 significantly worsened perinatal outcomes, with infected pregnant women facing a sevenfold increase in the risk of perinatal death.
Witika-Hawke spoke about the challenges during the pandemic: “It was a tricky time for us as a service too because we knew the dangers of Covid but being at home, often isolated, wasn’t good for our whānau too.”
Additionally, many Māori babies affected by neonatal encephalopathy still lack access to essential MRI scans for assessing brain injury.
Suicide remains the leading cause of maternal death, accounting for over 40% of cases, with Māori women disproportionately affected.
The report calls for urgent reforms in mental health support and culturally responsive care to address these inequities and improve outcomes for all mothers and babies in Aotearoa.