As the only midwife for the entire East Cape region, at any given time Corrina Parata is looking after 50-plus pregnant women and their babies.
After more than two decades of delivering babies, Corrina tells us in her own words about her career, life as a rural midwife and her experience of Cyclone Gabrielle. The powerful February weather event ripped through Ngāti Porou communities, leaving them without power, running water or means of communication.
But babies and birth don’t wait, so Corrina found herself hiking through landslips and washed-out roads to check on high-risk pregnant women, making sure they were safe and prepared to ride out the aftermath...
When I look back over my career, I’ve come to the realisation that from the moment I was born, my life’s path was midwifery.
I found the calling when I accidentally caught my first pēpi [baby] – my niece Tamzyn – at home. That was more than 20 years ago
