Immunisations. Wanting the best but feeling unsure? 

If another māmā or whānau member approached me and asked for advice around immunisation, I wouldn't say anything. I would listen to them. I am more than happy to share what I've gone through and my story and what we've learned through our whānau but in no way would I ever tell another whānau what they should do with their own baby. That's their decision and that's their privilege. 

[Manukaroa’s Story] 

I really thought my days of being “oops, I'm pregnant, what are we gonna do?” were over for me. I thought I had got through that through my teenage years. But here we are 20 years later about to welcome baby number 4. 

I was 18 when I had my first baby and like most, everything is overwhelming, and you are taking advice from all sorts of different sources. And one of the decisions that I made then was not to immunise my baby. And it was a really tough decision because I was going against the grain and that was really scary. We were happy with that decision up to a certain point, but before she started kōhanga, that's when we decided that we were going to get her fully immunised. 

Our second came to us 5 years later and so when he was born, he went into childcare much, much sooner. And so, like our eldest, we decided to get him immunised before he started early childhood. Unfortunately, before we got to the immunisation phase, our baby got sick, got really sick and it ended up being measles.  

So, to see those spots come up all over his body, to see him spend day after day in bed not moving, it's just too heartbreaking. And once you've been through an experience like that, you will do everything you possibly can to avoid that situation ever again in your household. And that experience of watching my child go through measles really did change my whole perception of how important immunisations are. 

I have now been a mother for 21 years. I have 4 children now and I think it's fair to say that each of my children have had a different mother. I have chosen not to immunise. I have delayed immunisations. I have done part immunisations with some of my children. This time around, our youngest child, we are doing things differently. We’ve never immunised a baby at 6 weeks old before. 

This is the first step in keeping her protected as best we possibly can from all those preventable illnesses and diseases. We are doing things according to the immunisation schedule and we are starting it at 6 weeks, and we are going to hit every single one of those milestones for her. 

[The decision to immunise may not always be an easy one. Everyone has their own story. What will yours be?] 

[The decision to immunise may not always be an easy one. Talk with people you trust to help decide what’s best for you and your whānau]