Story: Pacific Island health

In late 2009 the West Fono health clinic in Henderson, Auckland, introduced a drop-in centre to encourage Pacific Island women to see midwives earlier in their pregnancies. The idea was that pregnant women would combine a doctor's visit with seeing a midwife. Many Pacific women found hospital visits threatening, so they stayed away until late in their pregnancies. The clinic's informal atmosphere was designed to put them at ease and improve their maternity care and birth experience. Here midwife Mary Anne Penberthy (left) poses with West Fono Health Trust chair Rita Harder.