Local services
Antenatal classes Timaru Hospital phone 03 6872145 Child birth education classes Parents Centre click here phone 03 6845348
Arowhenua Whanau Services click here or phone 03 6155180 Plunket South Canterbury click here or phone 03 6883520
Family Works South Canterbury click here or phone Parents Centre South Canterbury click here or phone 03 6845348
Breastfeeding peer support counselors click here Health Info South Canterbury/Aoraki click here
Family Safety Service - Womens Refuge click here or phone 03 6848280 No 5. George Street Timaru click here
Bellyfull Geraldine area only click here Heart Kids South Canterbury click here or phone 027 4266209
Multiples Canterbury also supports a satellite group in South Canterbury click here
Call Healthline on 0800 611116 if you need health advice about your baby or child
Call PlunketLine on 0800 933922 if you need advice about child health or parenting.
Local cultural society information
Multicultural Aoraki Website or Facebook or phone 03 6877335
SC Indian Cultural Society click here Chinese Society click here Fale Pasifika click here
Tongan Society South Canterbury click here Timaru Muslim Education Trust click here South African Society click here
South Canterbury Irish Society click here
Living rurally - Heartland Centres
Heartland Centres are located in rural communities that don’t have easy access to government services. The centres aim to provide a level of personal service that is generally only available in urban centres.
Fairlie Heartlands Service click here or phone 03 6858496 Twizel Heartlands Service click here or phone 03 4350687
Waimate Heartlands Service click here or phone 03 6896226
Websites
Antenatal
Understanding your rights to Health and Disability Services click here
Pregnancy screening tests and scans click here
Online pregnancy and parenting (cost involved) https://www.empoweredparenthood.com/
https://www.hatchedantenatal.co.nz/online-course
Parental leave - New Zealand Government click here
New Zealand Government Family and Whānau click here
Young/teen mums click here
Perinatal anxiety and depression Aotearoa click here
Miscarriage support click here
Birth
Hypnobirthing click here
Placenta bags/boxes click here
Cord blood banking click here
Muka Pito umbilicial cord ties click here
Vitamin K click here
Postnatal
Safe sleep for babies click here
Immunisation click here
Newborn metabolic screening click here
KidsHealth NZ click here
Purple crying (understanding your baby’s crying) click here
Postnatal depression click here
Mobile Apps
Acknowledgement to Georgina Spratt, Midwife, for providing the following list of some mobile apps that she and women have found useful. Many are free, but there may be a cost to some of them.
Pregnancy Food Guide app(free) is a helpful tool makes food safety and good nutrition as simple as possible for you for the next nine months.
The app features a traffic light food labelling system of almost 1000 foodstuffs – they are categorized according to the level of danger to the unborn baby.
SmokeFree Baby app (free) provides you with expert advice on stopping smoking in pregnancy and uses techniques that are based on the latest scientific evidence and designed to help you give up smoking when you are expecting a baby.
Pregnancy tracker app (free) and baby development calendar app guides you through the countdown to your baby’s due date – week by week and day by day – with pregnancy tips and fetal development videos timed for each stage of pregnancy.
Sprout Pregnancy app (cost) guides you through every day of your pregnancy. It helps keep you organized and educated about the many exciting changes and developments happening in your body and for your growing baby.
Who’s your daddy app (costs) is written for men, by men (with advice from midwives), this app guides first time dads through their pregnancy with simple daily tips and weekly updates.
Pregnancy Exercise and workout at home app (free) has information and updates of each pregnancy exercise in every trimester timeline with pregnancy tracker. It contains exercises animations, pictures and descriptions which you can easily follow.
Prenatal Yoga app (free) has workouts targeted for each trimester.
As your body changes during your pregnancy, so should your yoga practice. Select first, second, or third trimester to get yoga poses appropriate for where you are in your prenatal journey.
GentleBirth Hypobirthing app (free) aims to help you to reduce fear and anxiety and increase confidence as you learn about the science of positive birth. It combines Hypnobirthing, Mindfulness, Breathing Techniques, Meditation and Affirmations. Every day you’ll receive recommendations based on your unique pregnancy journey and due date
Positively Pregnant contains tools for you to self-assess your mental health by looking at your strengths, stressors, support, strategies for coping, health behaviours, and more.
Mind the Bump (free) is a Mindfulness Meditation tool to help individuals and couples mentally and emotionally prepare for having a baby and becoming a new parent.
Babble is developed by staff of the Neonatal Unit at MidCentral Health, New Zealand.
It is a reliable source of information about what you can expect when your baby is admitted or going to be admitted to a Neonatal Unit. It also provides an opportunity to write and store journals and photos of your baby and to share that with your extended family.
BreastFedNZ (free) is a mobile app for breastfeeding support, information and encouragement - when and where you need it, from birth to weaning
Feed Safe (free) Can you have an occasional drink while breastfeeding? How does alcohol affect breastmilk? How long should I wait after having a drink, before you breastfeed?
Feed Safe is based on up-to-date research and official New Zealand recommendations from the Ministry of Health. It has been made available to kiwi mums by WellSouth Primary Health Network.
Baby Tracker (free) makes it simple to track all of your child’s important information for doctors and caregivers, as well as share all the exciting milestones of his or her development with your friends and family.
The Well Child app (free) is a specialised health and education tool for parents and caregivers to receive timely, targeted, and personalized information for the health and wellbeing of their tamariki (children).
FirstAid (free) is an app by NZ Red Cross and its preloaded content means you have instant access to all safety information at anytime, even without reception or an Internet connection. It will help you and your family learn life-saving skills, access help while travelling
Baby and Child First Aid (free) app is packed with useful videos, easy to follow advice and a test section.
It has simple, easy-to-understand advice and frequently asked questions on 17 first aid scenarios. Videos, step-by-step instructions and animations make it fun and easy to pick up.
St John CPR and AED app (free) teaches the life-saving skills of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (commonly known as CPR) and shows you how to use an AED (automated external defibrillator).
AED locations NZ (free) will quickly locate the nearest AED (Automatic External Defibrillator) to your current location, allowing you to have these life saving locations available on your phone wherever you go.
Easy Kegel - Pelvic Floor app (free) is an easy and effective way to strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. This usess daily reminders and adjustable durations to suit you!