Amanda | Pakuranga, Auckland

“My sister is currently living in London and she’s just had a precious little baby girl, Charlotte. She’s currently four months old, and due to Covid, me and my family haven’t been able to go and visit her.

So, we’ve been sharing a lot of photos and videos, and many conversations about our family life and how we’ve all grown up and how little Charlotte is going to grow up in a different world, but still receive the same love.

Me and my sister have been living apart for quite a long time, and we’ve kind of lost contact in a way with our sisterhood. So, now that she’s got her little baby, it’s kind of bringing us more together as a family, because we can interact without having to put in all of our particular thoughts and feelings from the past, but create new ones together to kind of grow and intertwine for the future. Family should be there for one another, and when we have that big distance between us, it can be quite challenging. So, to introduce extra life, it really brings that support system back for her, and as well as for me. If she has any baby queries, any hard times, or sad feelings of missing home, we can talk and reconnect and build that strength within our families so that me and my sister can continue to support each other throughout any hard times as well as the good times.

My mum was really proud to have another child coming into the family, but also heartbroken that she didn’t get to experience it hand-on-hand, but they’ve become so much closer. We talk to my sister every day now, and my father who’s not really interested in children at all, is also popping on the phone and video-calling and looking at multiple pictures. It’s put us together more as a family than we were living our separate lives before. So, that’s been quite nice.

I grew up in Pakuranga. I’ve lived there for the majority of my life. I have recently become an independent midwife. So, I have a lot of experience with other people’s babies and their families coming around and cherishing their little ones, and at the moment, I’m not quite getting to do the same with mine, but I hope to in the future.”