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Reducing Smoking in Pregnancy Among Māori Women: “Aunties” Perceptions and Willingness to Help

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Abstract

Māori (the indigenous people of New Zealand) women have high rates of smoking during pregnancy and 42 % register with a lead maternity carer (LMC) after their first trimester, delaying receipt of cessation support. We used a participatory approach with Māori community health workers (“Aunties”) to determine their willingness and perceived ability to find pregnant Māori smokers early in pregnancy and to provide cessation support. Three meetings were held in three different regions in New Zealand. The aunties believed they could find pregnant women in first trimester who were still smoking by using their networks, the ‘kumara-vine’ (sweet potato vine), tohu (signs/omens), their instinct and by looking for women in the age range most likely to get pregnant. The aunties were willing to provide cessation and other support but they said they would do it in a “Māori way” which depended on formed relationships and recognised roles within families. The aunties’ believed that their own past experiences with pregnancy and/or smoking would be advantageous when providing support. Aunties’ knowledge about existing proven cessation methods and services and knowledge about how to register with a LMC ranged from knowing very little to having years of experience working in the field. They were all supportive of receiving up-to-date information on how best to support pregnant women to stop smoking. Aunties in communities believe that they could find pregnant women who smoke and they are willing to help deliver cessation support. Our ongoing research will test the effectiveness of such an approach.

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Acknowledgments

The data reported in this paper was collected as part a larger project (AWHI) funded by the NZ Lottery Grant Board. We would like to acknowledge Ces Smith of Ringa Atawhai, Makere Herbert of Rotorua MWWL and Te Pora Thompson-Evans for recruitment of aunties. We are also grateful to Te Pora Thompson-Evans for facilitating the Hamilton hui.

Conflict of interest

No conflict of interest has been declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Master Student Health and Society, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Tineke van Esdonk

  2. Centre for Tobacco Control Research, Social and Community Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Marewa Glover & Anette Kira

  3. Health and Society, Department of Social Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Annemarie Wagemakers

  4. Centre for Tobacco Control Research, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

    Marewa Glover

Authors
  1. Tineke van Esdonk
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  2. Marewa Glover
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  4. Annemarie Wagemakers
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Correspondence to Marewa Glover.

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van Esdonk, T., Glover, M., Kira, A. et al. Reducing Smoking in Pregnancy Among Māori Women: “Aunties” Perceptions and Willingness to Help. Matern Child Health J 18, 2316–2322 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-013-1377-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-013-1377-8

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