Karinya House is pleased to announce a new partnership with disAbility Maternity Care and we thank CEO and Educator, Namira Williams for her offer of connection and support.

Every woman who is pregnant or parenting should be surrounded with the support she needs. This is the Karinya commitment.

Karinya House recognises and acknowledges the unique lived experiences of women as they navigate building a future for themselves. Our practice framework is focused on developing a sense of hope and belonging, to effect lasting positive change in the lives of the women in contact with Karinya House.

By providing a framework of care that encompasses the whole person, the Karinya care team walk alongside women as they regain their power to represent themselves and to make informed choices about their own lives.  The Karinya House Practice Framework is founded within the principals of trauma informed care and practice. Individual casework management and flexibility in service provision are paramount at Karinya House.

Part of our practice is to seek, through word and action, to change the conversation and challenge the  stigma around women, who are pregnant or parenting and who have limited supports.  On accepting the ACT Woman of the Year Award in 2017, Executive Director, Marie-Louise Corkhill stated, “single mothers who are experiencing a period of homelessness and face limited opportunities are never far from judgement, criticism and at times incredible prejudice in our community”.…and this persists today.

[Image: Newborn with mum and dad.]

Karinya House is pleased to announce a new partnership with disAbility Maternity Care and we thank CEO and Educator, Namira Williams for her offer of connection and support. There is an alignment in the value statements of both Karinya House and disAbility Maternity Care. Based on principles of social justice, disAbility Maternity Care is about “Changing the conversation to support parents with a difference“​. disAbility Maternity Care has been established to provide women with a disability, their partners and family, information and resources to support and assist them to become parents.  disAbility Maternity Care is founded on the premises that people with a disability have the right to consensual sex, relationships and a family, and that parenting is a learned skill for everyone.

 

Many women with disability experience vulnerabilities such as anxiety, depression and domestic violence. Negative and stigmatizing attitudes can compound these vulnerabilities when women become pregnant. For parents with a disability, challenges are further created through a lack of suitable pregnancy and parenting information in formats that meet their disability needs, as well as care by health providers who have limited understanding of their lives. “Our vision is to ensure that these families are set up to succeed with good support and resources beginning in early pregnancy. This aligns closely with the values and practice of Karinya House. When we support mothers well, children are nurtured to reach their potential.”, comments Namira.

disAbility Maternity Care aims to change the conversation through provider education, research, and DMC Support, a client service. Specifically, DMC Support provides Support Coordination services to NDIS participants in pregnancy, so that women are linked in with appropriate and suitable support services. Through building skills and knowledge that accommodate each woman’s disability, these women can be prepared for the transition to motherhood.

As part of this partnership, disAbility Maternity Care will donate the proceeds from this specifically designed Tee shirt to Karinya House. If you would like to know more about disAbility Maternity Care, you can connect via their homepage here.