Marama Robin Kainamu-Wheeler (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu), Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington.
This research adopts a whakapapa research paradigm to investigate national-linked perinatal datasets to (1) make visible the neonatal outcomes of Māori term infants born 2017–2022, (2) investigate protective factors contributing to the neonatal outcomes of Māori infants, and (3) collaborate with whānau through wānanga to reimagine perinatal data in the context of whakapapa.
This is a mixed-method research that situates whānau at the centre, recognises data as whakapapa and taonga, and rejects victim-blaming or cultural deficit narratives. By centring whakapapa and employing Indigenous approaches to quantitative research, and grounding this mahi in Kaupapa Māori theory, this research honours the lives of pēpi, their whakapapa, and aims to contribute to transforming perinatal care in Aotearoa New Zealand and to flourishing whānau and communities.