Pūrākau a māmā: Teenage Māori mothers’ experiences of holistic support

The pūrākau presented in this article come from a narrative inquiry underpinned and guided by kaupapa Māori theory and research principles (G. Smith, 1997; L. T. Smith, 2015). This rangahau explored four teenage Māori mothers’ experiences of support in health, social, financial, education and whānau domains. The pūrākau presented here are the research participants’ experiences. The wider research project sought to ascertain which support systems were effective for strengthening holistic wellbeing and success for this group. This was achieved by overlaying Te whare tapa whā (Durie, 1984) pou upon the pūrākau. Each of the supports were explored in terms of their impact on the taha tinana (physical), hinengaro (mental and emotional), wairua (spiritual), and whānau (family and social relationships) health and wellbeing of wāhine. Research participants were sourced from one Teen Parent Unit (TPU), are Māori, and became mothers as teenagers. The research found health, social and financial support systems lacking. The young wāhine had mixed or variable experiences of support in each of these three domains. In contrast, education and whānau experiences of support were overwhelmingly positive. These two domains were found to be effective in supporting holistic wellbeing and success for each of the wāhine Māori who took part in the research. Further to this, research findings are made visible through each of the pūrākau shared below.