Hutt Maternity Action Trust is now the Oxytocin Trust
To our wonderful volunteers and supporters,
Hutt Maternity Action Trust was born in 2019. The trust arose in response to significant community concern and anguish about the state of local maternity services in the wake of the extremely troubling external review of Women's Health Services that was released to the public in July 2019.
Following significant media attention and the outpouring of grief, anger, and concern via the birth stories of many local women some local individuals with a passion for making positive changes to the experiences of those birthing in the Hutt started to come together. After a community meeting where a large group of mostly new mothers came together to brainstorm ways in which the community could take action the idea for a charitable trust was born.
Our purpose has always been to give the community a way to act for positive change In both small and more significant ways. When we came to choose the name for our charitable trust it was important to locate us clearly in the Hutt Valley, indicate that our primary concern was with maternity services, and express the need for urgent, practical, action. This was how we settled on the name Hutt Maternity Action Trust.
However, we have, since our foundation, struggled to communicate that we are an independent volunteer-run charitable trust and have no formal connection to Hutt maternity, as the maternity services within Hutt Hospital are commonly known. While we have all the respect in the world for the incredible maternity staff working at Hutt Hospital it has been sometimes frustrating to the trust board that we are assumed to be either part of the hospital system or exist solely to support that system.
Since very early on, our practical, on-the-ground, volunteer arm has been known as the Oxytocin Squad. As is well known to those working in maternity or those who have given birth Oxytocin is colloquially known as the love hormone. We have always thought of our wonderful volunteers as putting love into action and spreading the love to those under stress or pressure. We have wanted women and their families, as well as maternity staff, to feel that they have the love and support of their community.
As we approached our recent AGM the Trustees of the Hutt Maternity Action Trust decided to formally change the name of our trust to the Oxytocin Trust. While we remain an intensely local organisation that is staunchly committed to the families and maternity staff of the Hutt Valley we feel the name ‘Oxytocin Trust’ better represents our reason for being, our ways of working, and our independence and openness.
As a fully volunteer-run organisation comprised of very busy people It may take a while for us to fully transition all of our social media and branding over to our new name, so please bear with us.
We look forward to continuing to work with our wonderful volunteers and the wider community to “spread the love” or oxytocin to all those birthing and working within the Hutt Valley maternity community. We'd love to welcome more volunteers to the team so please get in touch if our purpose resonates with you. Thank you all for your support and aroha.
Ngā mihi mahana kia koutou,
Meg Waghorn Chair Oxytocin Trust
