Abby received a Bachelor of Midwifery from Massey University in 2007, and is currently working towards the Playcentre Diploma in Early Childhood and Adult Education. Abby is a mother of two beautiful boys and she works part time within the hospital with a focus on primary care in the community and has experience working as a community midwife as well as within the hospital system. Abby’s passion is working with women and their whānau as they transition into parenthood. She has been working with birthEd since 2007 and believes that antenatal education is very important in the journey of pregnancy, birth and those early weeks with your new baby. Abby is also very active in Playcentre which gives her ample opportunity to spend valuable time with her children and be involved with other children and their families.

Ko Leith Porter-Samuels tōku ingoa I whānau au ki Whanganui-a-Tara Nga uri o Ngati Haua, Ngati Raukawa o Waitaha au No reira, Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou Katoa. Leith is Māori, and she married and raised her whānau in the Hutt Valley. Her passion to make the ‘hard stuff’ simpler and empower young Māori mothers is born from her personal experience as a struggling, young, uneducated mother. In her early career years she worked with youth and whānau in the community, which eventually lead her to study and graduate as a mature midwife. She is a childbirth educator for birthEd and enjoys interacting with expectant wāhine, partners and whānau. She has been very involved in developing Kaupapa Māori Antenatal and Kaiāwhina Education (MAKE). She also represents the Hutt Valley District Health Board SUDI Prevention Unit to promote the key messages on Safe Sleeping and Baby Safety in our community.

Jenni has been part of the birthEd team since 2007 when she was in her final year of training to be a midwife. Jenni has now been a practicing community midwife for 4 years and an educator with birthEd for 5 years. She took last year off to explore the world and has now returned to her passion of midwifery. Jenni loves to inspire confidence in women’s ability to birth naturally and breastfeed their babies. She is passionate about empowering women and their partners to make informed choices around birth and parenting. She especially loves to create a learning environment that is positive, friendly and fun. In her spare time Jenni loves to drink coffee on her friends’ couches and play with their kids!

Pauline has been a qualified childbirth educator for 18 years, for the last 2 years she has also worked for birthEd at both the Hutt hospital and He Huarahi Tamariki. She has been a doula and involved in many other aspects of the birthing scene over the years. She knew she wanted to be a childbirth educator after her last birth, 15 years ago, and has gained immense enjoyment and fulfillment from this career path. She is enthusiastic about teaching and feels privileged to be involved in the lives of people as they venture into parenthood. She also works as a data analyst for a science research centre and is married with 2 sons aged 27 and 18 and two daughters aged 10 and 6 and has a busy but fulfilling life – no time for hobbies!.

Lucy currently works as a birthEd antenatal educator and a core and community midwife at Hutt Hospital. She has also been an LMC and a hospital midwife in Christchurch. Practicing midwifery has reinforced Lucy's belief in women’s innate ability to give birth. She respects that every woman comes to the woman-midwife partnership with different beliefs, ideals and needs. Lucy feels privileged to support women through this amazing and challenging journey in women’s homes or in hospital through her work at Hutt Hospital. She is a strong believer in the importance and empowerment of informed choice, and works to bring understanding and choice to the women and whānau she works with. Lucy enjoys educating and empowering women and their support people to achieve their desired experience.