Ko wai ahau?

Walking Alongside Wāhine Across Generations
I'm Maddie, a māmā of two, a keeper of ancestral wisdom, and a wāhine who has walked her own path of transformation through pregnancy, birth, and the sacred threshold of becoming a Mother. I had my first pēpi at eighteen years old; young, full of aroha, and navigating motherhood in a generation where the conversation looked very different. Then, at thirty-nine, I became a māmā again, bringing with me two decades of lived experience, growth, and a deep knowing of just how much had changed, and how much had stayed the same.

Those two experiences, separated by twenty-one years, gave me something rare: the ability to walk alongside wāhine across generations. I understand the rawness and courage it takes to become a mother young, and I understand the rich complexity of stepping into motherhood again later in life.

My mahi is rooted in two things that shaped me equally: my own postpartum whakaaro and lived experience, and the Māori whakapapa and ancestral lineage that has always called me home. After navigating the immense physical, emotional, and wairua terrain of the fourth trimester often without the village that every wāhine deserves, I knew this was the work I was born to do. I trained, I studied, I sat with kaumātua and teachers, and I returned to the wisdom of my tīpuna. I came to understand that what so many wāhine experience after birth is not a personal failing, it is the absence of the ancient care that once surrounded every māmā.

My Expertise

My approach to this work is built on a combination of lived experience, formal training, and over a decade of professional practice. I bring not only the knowledge of my ancestors but also the skills I've honed across development, coaching, facilitation, and movement medicine.

Professional Background

My career spanning people development, management, and coaching success has given me a deep understanding of how transformation happens. I've spent years helping individuals and teams grow, navigate change, and reach their full potential. These skills—the ability to listen deeply, to see what's possible, to hold space for growth—translate directly into the work I do as a doula and rongoā Māori practitioner.

Facilitation & Movement Medicine

• Certified in Yoga and Pilates with over 10 years of teaching experience

• Trained facilitator experienced in creating safe, transformative spaces for individuals and groups

• Deep knowledge of how the body holds and releases trauma, emotion, and ancestral patterns

• Skilled in breath work, somatic practices, and movement as a pathway to healing and integration

Rongoā Māori & Ancestral Healing

I have studied extensively with kaumātua, healers, and teachers, grounding myself in traditional Māori healing practices. This is not surface-level knowledge—it is embodied, practiced, and continually refined through sacred relationship with this work. I understand the four dimensions of health (te taha wairua, te taha hinengaro, te taha tinana, te taha whānau) and how to support healing across all of them.

Postpartum Doula & Maternal Support

I am trained as a postpartum doula and have supported dozens of families through the transformative weeks after birth. My approach combines evidence-based postpartum care, ancestral maternal wisdom, and the practical, emotional, and spiritual support that every new mother needs.

Weaving It All Together

What makes my work unique is that none of these skills exist in isolation. My background in coaching and people development means I listen without judgment and meet you where you are. My training in yoga and pilates means I understand the body as a language of its own, capable of profound healing. My knowledge of rongoā Māori means I can access the unseen, the ancestral, the spiritual dimensions of healing. And my lived experience as a mother—twice over—means I understand the territory you're walking through.

When you work with me, whether as a postpartum doula through Kaitiakimama, for rongoā Māori treatment at Te Whare Pora, or as a student in the Te Ara Matrescence practitoner pathway, you're receiving the full integration of all this knowledge and experience. You're not just getting someone who knows about healing—you're getting someone who has lived it, studied it, practiced it, and continues to deepen in it every day.

My Kaupapa

I believe that transformation is possible. I believe that every wāhine deserves to be held through the sacred passages of life—pregnancy, birth, and motherhood. I believe that ancestral knowledge is alive, powerful, and necessary for our healing. And I believe that when we reclaim the practices of our tīpuna, we don't just heal ourselves—we heal our whānau, our iwi, and the generations to come.

Let's Walk This Together

Whether you're seeking postpartum support, rongoā Māori healing for injury, or wanting to deepen your own practice as a facilitator or practitioner, I'm here. I've walked this path myself, and I've been trained in the skills to hold you through yours.

Come as you are. Bring your story, your questions, your hope for what's possible. We'll figure out the rest together.