2 March 2026
Whānau Āwhina Plunket is excited to announce the launch of the new Online Perinatal Wellbeing Service, initially focused on supporting whānau in the Waikato region.
This is a free, online perinatal mental health service supporting parents and caregivers who are experiencing mild to moderate distress, anxiety or depressive symptoms and who have children aged up to 5 years.
Plunket will pilot this service to test and refine a model that could support wider national delivery in the future. By starting in the Waikato, Plunket can trial service delivery across both urban and rural contexts, build evidence and impact data, and gather learnings to inform future scaling and sustainability.
The service builds on the success of Plunket’s long-established perinatal mental health services in Canterbury and Dunedin.
Plunket is committed to working alongside iwi, hauora, health and community providers to ensure collaboration and system alignment, with a focus on improving wellbeing outcomes for parents, pēpi and tamariki.
The service is funded by Health New Zealand’s Mental Health and Addictions Innovation Fund, with generous support from the Wright Family Foundation and the Masfen Foundation. To ensure this vital service can continue into a second year, we are seeking further philanthropic support. For more information, please get in touch at philanthropy@plunket.org.nz.
