As we enter November, many of you (more organised people than us) might be starting to think of Christmas and carefully selecting what will be the perfect presents for your kids, anticipating their heart’s desires—and yours. Christmas morning arrives and the weeks of anticipation are More…

Spring is finally here and it’s a time of incredible growth in the garden, encouraging children into the garden is a wonderful way to teach them about nature and where their food comes from. Ask your kids what they would like to grow. It’s a More…

Rotorua is fun, unique, smelly, and steamy. It’s also a living science, history, and Maori culture lesson. A great location for a family holiday. There’s no shortage of family friendly things to see and do in Rotorua, here are a few of my favourites. Terrace More…

Ministry of Health and New Zealand College of midwives, recommends that pregnant women/people are routinely offered the COVID-19 vaccine at any stage of pregnancy. This recommendation aligns with those in many other countries, including the U.K., the U.S., Australia and Israel. Internationally, many people have More…

Thanks to all that entered the Huggies Cover Star competition by nominating a super-parent and congratulations to our winner, Tessa Brianne Blake and family! We are so looking forward to having your beautiful family on the cover of KiwiParent magazine! It was a tough job More…

A petition calling for the Government to urgently address the maternity crisis in Aotearoa was delivered to MPs in Wellington on July 8th by our own Lower Hutt Parents Centre.   Guest speakers including Emily Writes, and the President of Lower Hutt Parents Centre Meg Waghorn shared their More…

The Summer Olympics are finally here! Children are always interested in what’s happening in the world around them – so this can be a great time of learning about sports and teamwork and the Olympic events. It can be tricky to think of new activities More…

‘I’m a breastfeeding mum, full of a cold.  I don’t want my baby to get sick too, should I stop breastfeeding?’ Feeding your baby with breast milk when you’re unwell will provide them with some immunity from the sickness you are dealing with.  Our bodies More…

It’s been truly cold and wet outside this week and that can make it hard for your pre-schooler to burn off energy. But with the right outdoor gear it’s still great to head outside each day and let your little one enjoy the wonders of Aotearoa – most pre-schoolers love to More…

Parents Centre Aotearoa has a rich past – one which we like to look back and reflect on – as well as celebrate. This article on changing maternity practices in New Zealand first featured in issue 300 of KiwiParent magazine.   “Although [the Sister] said that rooming-in had been More…

Parents Centre has been offering antenatal and transition to parenting programmes for almost 70 years and we are proud of the work that we do to support parents during this new and exciting time.  We have 54 locations in Aotearoa providing education and support to whanau in the community – but we know with our beautifully diverse and geographically challenged country, we More…

Now that the trans-Tasman bubble is a reality, we asked family friendly travel consultant Helen Rolton for fun, activity based holidays for young families.  In this column, Helen looks at kid friendly Queenstown adventures, where the littlies will have just as much fun as the More…

My baby is here, now what? Parents Centre’s transition to parenting programmes (aka antenatal classes) are fabulous for preparing parents for their labour journey and the exciting arrival of baby.  We often joke that preparing for parenting a new-born is a bit like learning to More…

We’ve joined with Huggies and New World to ‘hug it forward’ for both Kiwi babies AND their parents. ‘Hug it forward for your village’ is a joint initiative across Parents Centre, Huggies, and New World created to give Kiwis an opportunity to do what they More…

So, what are the Parents Centre coffee groups all about and how do they happen?   All our programmes, from antenatal to postnatal, are led by qualified facilitators, and they’re not the type of people who have you seated for two hours, watching PowerPoint presentations, videos or listening to lectures!   Many More…