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Invited Speakers

Jenny Firmin & Fay Selby Law

Fay and Jenny will co-present about their experiences promoting and advising health professionals, organisations and whānau in SUDI prevention and safe sleep messaging.

Wānanga is a way of teaching knowledge and matauranga Māori. It understands everyone present has expertise and in sharing their accomplishments they are more attuned to absorbing the information shared by others. Wānanga wahakura demonstrates the vulnerability of learning a new skill and by working together it is achievable.

By centering whānau in all they do, Jenny and the Mokopuna Ora collective continue to develop the teaching process for weaving a wahakura (an in-adult-bed capable baby bed made from harakeke) with whānau as a way of teaching safe sleep messaging, antenatal education, birthing and parenting. The outcome is not just a beautiful pēpi but a tangible item ie. The pēpi moenga.

Jenny will share her purakau about her wahakura and it is this that whānau often look back to when in situations of distress to assist them in finding a way forward.
"Fay lives in Te Papaioea (Palmerston North) with husband Brian. They have four adult tamariki, Ben, Mahi, Hapai & Sam and 12 mokopuna.

Fay is the general manager for the National SUDI Prevention Coordination Service (Tiaki Ngā Tamariki) with Hāpai Te Hauora.
She started her career as a nurse primarily in the Neo Natal Unit at Palmerston North Hospital where she trained. She has also worked in Whānau-Tamariki Ora for her Ngāti Raukawa iwi, in Hauora Māori research, as a health promoter in Community Paediatrics, and a long period in stop smoking support, leadership and training of health professionals. Fay says “all of my previous mahi and learnings have led me to this role in SUDI prevention.
While she is not a weaver of harakeke, Fay comes of a whānau of weavers and understand the value in bringing whānau together to wānanga to share knowledge and skills that can prevent SUDI and also grow caring, loving parents, grandparents and wider family members.

Jenny lives in her home rohe of Whanganui with her whānau including husband Matthew, tamariki and mokopuna.

She is employed at Whanganui Regional Health as a Childbirth Educator, Whānau Hapū support kaimahi and wānanga wahakura lead alongside her daughters Meriana and Maia-Jade.

As a lifelong kairaranga, Jenny grew up at the feet of weavers and she taken the matauranga and skills to develop a methodology and process for weaving wahakura that supports whānau hapū to weave their own wahakura and knowledge. As well as the Whanganui rohe Jenny leads wānanga wahakura in the MidCentral region with the Mokopuna Ora collective and has worked alongside Hāpai te Hauora to provide her raranga and purakau across Aotearoa. Jenny describes wānanga wahakura “It’s bigger than just making a wahakura. If you do it right, you can save a whānau.”

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