Riwa Wawatai, a Levin-based weaver is calling for more kairaranga to meet the demand for wahakura – baby bassinets woven from harakeke or flax.
“There is a huge demand for wahakura because it is working, but they can't do that if they're not getting enough wahakura supplied to them.”
Wahakura and pēpi pods, a plastic alternative to the baby bed baskets, became part of a national campaign to reduce sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) rates in the early 2000s and health providers continue to promote their use as part of safe sleeping practices for newborns.
Wawata said the beds have become so popular that some regional health providers want to increase the number of orders.
“When word started to spread around the other DHB [district health boards] that we could supply them with wahakura as well, and not only wahakura, but the same size, the same quality wahakura to everybody, then we started getting more enquiries from other DHBs,” Wawatai said.
She currently supplies wahakura to Te Whatu Ora to reduce the use of plastic baby pods, but her team of ten are struggling to meet the need.
“We're three months behind on our current orders and we can't increase our numbers which means there's a lot of pepe out there that are missing out on having a wahakura.”
Glossary
Kairaranga – weavers
Wahakura – woven flax bassinet
Harakeke – flax
Motu – country, island
Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand
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