Pāpā Hōhepa Delamere

I had the pleasure of meeting Pāpā thanks to my brother Ezard, back in 2004. I was hapū (pregnant) with my son at the time and it was a great opportunity for me to meet the man behind the wonderful. It was also the first time for me having a mirimiri during a pregnancy. Based at a clinic on the North Shore of Auckland, is where I met Pāpā and my first thought was 'Teddy Bear' I wanted to take him home.
I was amazed at how comfortable the setting was, even though there were others there also for varying treatments. I loved the moulded haputanga (pregnancy) cushions on the table which made the ordeal of being on my puku (stomach) such a relief. I remember relaxing into the mahi (work) and feeling nothing but calm. Pāpā explained to me the reasoning for treatments on hapu women postnatally and antenatally. It is common for a hapu gait or waddle to occur in the final trimester of pregnancy. Moving Pēpī to allow more room and to ease the pressure from the lower back and hips, was a total relief experienced by many. My hips had been pinned and screw plated when I was 12. A trauma that I took as something that happened and something I lived with. Pāpā worked on my hips to regenerate the cellular memory in them a bit at a time. He was also surprised that I was able to get hapu at all, due to the restriction on the hips and the way the pins, plates and screws had altered the way my hips formed after puberty. This is when he went on to tell me that, children chose their parents. This warmed my heart as I was told at 16 that I would never be able to have children. Pāpā's words rung true for me, because my children chose me. Despite the diagnoses of a doctor and despite the trauma my body had experienced at age 12. After my weekend hands on workshop, everything is touching the right points and becoming more apparent for me on this journey with my tāne. Clarity is the key here. Love you Pāpā.