NZBA Board

Jane O'Malley has recently retired form Whānau Āwhina Plunket's leadership team as Chief Nurse.

This role followed seven years with the Ministry of Health as Chief Nursing Officer, and prior to that Jane was Director of Nursing and Midwifery for the West Coast District Health Board.

Jane brings a wealth of leadership experience and knowledge to Plunket from her time in the health sector and is highly respected both within Plunket and across the nursing sector for her diverse nursing experience and strategic focus.

As a former president of the New Zealand Nursing Organisation, and a former clinical nurse manager and academic, Jane understands the importance of the role nurses and health workers play in the health of New Zealanders, in particular through early intervention, using modern and innovative nursing practice.

Jane believes that partnerships are a key to the success of the relationship between nurses and whānau.

Tasha's current role is Women’s Health Promoter at Women’s Health Action. She has spent the last 10+ years in various roles with Te Rūnanga o Te Rarawa and Ngati Hine Health Trust focusing on māma me pēpi, as a breastfeeding advocate and whānau maternity support for mental health and addictions.

Tasha visits whānau in their whare or wherever they would like to meet and facilitates breastfeeding korero in Hapu Wananga in Te Tai Tokerau. Her mahi also involves building strong relationships with key community health stakeholders and consumer groups. She has worked in partnership with the Ministry of Health and District Health Boards to provide consumer representation and has developed and led several regional and national initiatives/projects aimed at strengthening and diversifying whānau voices.

Henare is the Managing Director of Tuapaerangi Ltd. He is from Te Rarawa, Te Aupouri and Ngapuhi iwi from the Far North. He currently holds positions as Te Whare o Ngapuhi Ki Otautahi and Te Waipounamu, Nga Tai Haruru Waka Ama and Kaiwhakamana Canterbury Prisons.

Henare provides cultural support and advice to a number of organisations through his role as Māori Advisor to Canterbury Police District Commander, New Zealand Police STU and New Zealand Police Area Commanders.

He is Kaumatua of Rehua Marae, Te Rangimarie Marae, Taurahere O Waitaha and provides Kaumatua support and advice to a number of health and education bodies including Cashmere High School, Diabetes Christchurch, St Martins Primary School.

Henare has had a close association with the NZBA for a number of years providing Kaumatua support and cultural advice to the organisation. His experience on other national and regional Māori advisory boards was invaluable and guided Te Rōpu Whakaruruhau.

Kāti Mamoe, Waitaha

Taua Wendy has over 25 years of experience in the Health sector in a variety of roles. She has represented Māori interests in health on a number of boards and organisations including; South Island Māori Cancer Leadership Network, National Kaitiaki Group – Cervical Screening, National Breastfeeding Association, Mana Whenua ki Waitaha Charitable Trust , Pegasus Community Board and Te Kahui o Papaki Ka Tai – PHO, Primary Health Care Māori Advisory Group (Chairperson).

Prior to working at Ihi Research Wendy was an independent researcher working on local projects including; He Kokonga Whare (HKW): Māori Intergenerational Trauma and Healing Programme – (Health Research Council of New Zealand) and a project for the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, ‘Understanding Māori 'lived' culture to determine cultural connectedness and wellbeing.’

Wendy was the Program Leader of Health and Social Wellbeing, Toitu te iwi, for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu from 2008 to 2012. She worked as the Cultural Advisor/Manager of Māori health, Pegasus Health (IPA), Researcher/ Lecturer at M.I.H.I. (Maori Indigenous Health Institute) University of Otago - Christchurch. During this time she was part of the team that developed the Meihana Model, a clinical assessment framework developed using Te Whare Tapa Whā.

Tena koutou katoa

Ko Moumoukai tōku Maunga

Ko Naguroro tōku Awa

Ko Tākitimu tōku Waka

Ko Ngati Kahungunu, Ngati Rongomaiwahine,

Ngati Porou tōku Iwi

Ko Rākaipaaka tōku Hapu

Ko Nga Tamakahu, Iwitea tōku Marae

Ko Kiley Clark (Hewett) tōku ingoa

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou

Kia Kaha, Kia Māia, Kia Manawanui

Kiley has been a midwife for 11 years, graduating as a direct entry midwife. She has lived and worked in South Auckland for 20 years before recently moving home to Central Hawkes Bay, No Waipawa ahau.

Kiley has a working history of DHB Midwifery at Middlemore Hospital and Hawkes Bay Hospital. Also. the LMC Team with “Turuki Healthcare” Māori Midwifery Team and now currently works as the Māori Midwifery Consultant to Maternity in Hawkes Bay DHB.

As tapuhi Māori, Kiley believes that Māori leadership, and expertise is crucial to enable true equity and partnership for whānau Māori. There is a lot of mahi to be done to meet the needs of whānau Māori specifically within breastfeeding services, support and education. Her passion is to raise the profile and understanding for te ao māori services, to improve culturally responsive breastfeeding services in Aotearoa.

Kiley has built on her governance and strategic work within the DHB and community with Māori whānau, and believe that this opportunity with the New Zealand Breastfeeding Alliance will allow her to support and facilitate changes for whānau Māori breastfeeding and wellbeing.

Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Kahungungu ki Wairarapa

Born in Whanganui, Bev lives in Tāmaki Makaurau. Graduating as a nurse, she worked as a public health nurse in Taranaki Whanganui, and in Singapore. She became a midwife in London in 1996. During her time as a PHN (Well Child) Bev recognised that she didn’t have great skills assisting others who needed additional and more complex breastfeeding help. She qualified as a lactation consultant in 1997, but got many of her skills simply by talking with māmā/pēpi/whānau and with La Leche League Leaders in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Bev believes the health service has probably never been at a time where there has been more stress and inadequate resourcing and this is providing huge challenges for ūkaipōtanga. Meeting Te Tiriti obligations; Reaching; Preparing; Engaging; Supporting; Providing Accessible Kaupapa Māori and Pasifika services and stamping out inequity are challenges for organisations and BFI facilities and therefore for NZBA’s work within Aotearoa.

Bev’s Master’s degree focused on BFHI. She committed to the establishment of the NZBA, served on NZBA Groups; helped develop and update BFHI documents. She has worked as a BFHI Coordinator and DHB Lactation Support Services Team Leader, leading the way for paid Māori and Pasifika breastfeeding advocate positions.

Bev works at Nga Hau Māngere Birthing Centre, providing midwifery care and skilled help with breastfeeding. She has the privilege of working with a diverse range of ethnic groups and working closely with Māori, Pasifika and other Lead Maternity Care (LMC) Midwife colleagues who assist māmā to birth there. She enjoys watching whānau welcoming tamariki together and partners/supporters staying 24/7. Her aim is to facilitate the best possible whānau experience in a maternity facility; at the same time as providing a safe, nurturing environment for our Māori and Pasifika student midwives to learn.

Debra is the consumer representative on the NZBA Board, nominated by La Leche League New Zealand. She has been a member of La Leche League New Zealand since 1991 and became an active accredited Leader from 1996. Through this peer breastfeeding support group, Debra gained a desire to support mothers on their breastfeeding journey, to train mothers to become breastfeeding peer counsellors and to do voluntary work in various departments to ensure the longevity of an important organisation. Her motivation to qualify as a lactation consultant began with her La Leche League work.

Debra believes that her professional career as a midwife and IBCLC enhances the consumer rep role on the NZBA Board. She is familiar with the workings of the maternity system and implementing BFHI in a DHB setting and the background work and goals of NZBA. Debra has formed many social contacts with the medical, midwifery and lactation consultant professions and has a good relationship with staff working at Hamilton Plunket and also Hapū Wānanga and Waikato Wai Ū.

Debra believes in equity, fairness and human rights which affects the way she work. This is a motivation to her enjoyment and involvement in working with groups, whether mothers in the community or with peers.

Ngāi Tahu, Waitaha, Ngāti Mamoe

Sarah-Anne is employed by Te Puawaitangi ki Ōtautahi Trust, facilitating the Whānau Mai Kaupapa Māori Antenatal Pregnancy & Parenting Program and providing administration support for the Wahakura Wānanga Workshops in Ōtautahi.

Sarah-Anne is a registered midwife and practiced in the community for 6 years until June 2018. She is passionate about supporting wāhine and whānau to be the positive leaders in their pregnancy journey. She has also supported many at risk whānau and understands the challenges that they can face day to day. Breastfeeding was a major part of her mahi and with appropriate supports saw many whānau realise their breastfeeding dream.

She lived for 32 years within a rural community of the Chatham Islands. This remote rural location has given her tools to deal with rural location adversities, and shown the importance of working as a community.