A little girl caused a big noise after she arrived in the world last Tuesday when she and her parents were helicoptered from their Māhia home to Gisborne Hospital.
Ihaia and Breearna Maxwell had planned to make the just-over-an-hour’s drive to hospital in preparation for the birth of Kamryn-Rose.
The couple already have three boys – a 6-year-old and 5-year-old twins – but as Breearna suffered postpartum hemorrhaging after delivering the twins, there was elevated risk.
“Our new baby was already more than a week overdue when Bree went into labour at about 5am so we were ready to head off to Gisborne,” Ihaia said.
“But it progressed much faster than we anticipated and Bree was having some pretty intense contractions, so we quickly got [Bree’s mother] Nan to come from her house up the road to take the boys and get them off to school.”
The couple did not have to cope by themselves. The Wairoa Hato Hone St John Ambulance turned up, as did midwives from Māhia and Wairoa.
But while 3.67kg Kamryn-Rose made her dramatic arrival in good health, things were not looking so good for her mother.
“It was fantastic to have that support but they soon realised that Bree was bleeding a lot – as we had feared – so they called for the (Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland) rescue helicopter to get her to hospital as quickly as possible,” Ihaia said.
“It was pretty scary but actually turned out to be an awesome experience. The helicopter team was so helpful and caring as they looked after Bree and baby, and took all three of us to Gisborne. The flight was less than 20 minutes so it felt like we were there in no time.”
While the risk was high – the team’s critical care flight paramedic charted Bree’s condition as “serious” – fast action meant a more serious crisis was averted and, by Thursday, the trio were able to return home.
“The boys had been telling everyone at school about all the drama and when we went to meet them at the school bus they raced over to see Kamryn-Rose,” says Ihaia.
“All three take the job of big brother very seriously and they absolutely love their new baby sister.”
Ihaia (Ngai Tamanuhiri/Rangitane) and Bree (Rongomaiwahine) met more than a decade ago as students in Gisborne, where they were among the last residents of the Rectory boarding hostel.
The couple were living in Hamilton when their eldest son Korbyn was born but, knowing they’d need whanau support with twins Rawiri and Noah, relocated to Bree’s home region of Māhia.
“City life can disconnect you from Māori culture but here the boys went to kohanga and could feel their roots in everything they did,” Ihaia said.
“Living in a rural area does have some challenges but Bree has a lot of whanau here, and everyone knows everyone, so it’s been an awesome place to raise our boys and now our totally chill little girl.”
The now father-of-four has a couple of weeks paternity leave from his job as head chef at the nearby Sunset Point Sports Bar, while Bree will likely take six months out from her role as duty manager at Māhia Beach Store.
While Ihaia knows his “incredible” wife will have her hands full when he returns to work, he reckons she’ll do just fine.
“One thing you quickly learn about Māhisian women is that they are independent, they are strong and they can do just about anything.
“We can already see that in our ‘little Miss’, who just wanted a red-carpet helicopter ride for her mum.”
