Ho'olauna
HONORING TRADITION. STRENGTHENING 'OHANA.
Kalauokekahuli was founded on the belief that every Native Hawaiian and Pasifika family deserves access to culturally grounded support, education, advocacy, and community throughout pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and parenthood.
Through education, advocacy and community, we walk alongside families while honoring ʻike kupuna while strengthening families and cultivating lasting connection.
Some of our early founders of Kalauokekahuli, building a vision for culturally rooted birth and postpartum care.
OUR STORY
How Kalauokekahuli Began
Kalauokekahuli was founded in February 2020 by wāhine ʻōiwi birth workers compelled to address the cultural and socioeconomic barriers that prevent Native Hawaiian and Pasifika families from accessing high-quality prenatal, birth, and postpartum care.
The organization began with a vision of creating culturally rooted spaces where families could receive education, advocacy, practical support, and care without being excluded because of income or circumstance.
From its earliest days, Kalauokekahuli has worked to uplift Indigenous knowledge, strengthen extended-ʻohana systems, and help families approach pregnancy, birth, postpartum, breastfeeding, and parenthood with greater confidence, connection, and support.
Why this work is important
Native Hawaiian and Pasifika families continue to face disproportionate barriers to culturally grounded parental, birth, postpartum, and parenting support. Kalauokekahuli exists to help restore what should never have been lost.
EDUCATION
Providing culturally relevant education rooted in ʻike kupuna and contemporary evidence.
COMMUNITY
Strengthening relationships that continue long after services end.
ADVOCACY
Walking alongside families so every voice is heard and respected.
CULTURAL REVITALIZATION
Helping restore and normalize indigenous birth and parenting knowledge for future generations.
The mo'olelo that guides our work
The mo'olelo behind Kalauokekahuli
Ma kekahi mo'olelo, ʻo Haumea ke akua wahine pale keiki, a he mau pua kaulana loa kāna ʻo Kanikawi lāua ʻo Kanikawā, no ke kumu kupaianaha ʻo Kalauokekahuli mai. ʻO kēia mau pua hoʻi, kāna lāʻau hoʻohānau keiki. Na ka ʻike o kēia moʻolelo e hoʻoulu ana iā mākou e hoʻomanaʻo a hoʻohana mau i ka ʻike o nā kupuna i mea e hoʻoponopono ai i nā hopena hānau hemahema e hoʻopilikia ana i nā wahine a me nā keiki Hawaiʻi/ʻōiwi.
A moʻolelo of Haumea, the Hawaiian goddess and pale keiki associated with fertility and childbirth, tells of how she utilized Kalauokekahuli and its flowers, Kanikawī and Kanikawā, as lāʻau hoʻohānau keiki (child-birthing medicine). Imbued with ancestral knowledge, this moʻolelo inspires the work that Kalauokekahuli seeks to do by breathing new life into traditional and cultural practices in order to overturn the negative birth and postpartum outcomes that Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women and babies currently face in Hawaiʻi.
E kākoʻo ana ʻo Kalauokekahuli i nā ʻohana Hawaiʻi a me na ʻohana ʻōiwi o ka Moananuiākea ma o ka mālama ʻana i nā papa e hoʻomakaukau ai iā lakou no ka hānau keiki, ka mālama ʻana i ke keiki, ka hānai poli, a pela wale aku. ʻO kekahi pahuhopu nui o mākou ka hiki ke kākoʻo i nā ʻohana ma ke ʻano he koʻokua, me ka hoʻi mau ʻana i ka 'ike ku'una 'oiai, ua lehulehu a manomano ka 'ikena a ka Hawai'i. He manaʻolana ko mākou e hōʻola hou i nā hana o ko kākou poʻe kupuna mai ka wā hoʻokauhua, ka wā hānau keiki, a ma hope pono iho i mea e ho'omaika'i a'e ai i ka nohona o nā 'ohana.
Kalauokekahuli encourages the healthy growth of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander families by supporting and enhancing the well-being of makua and their keiki with holistic, multi-generational, and culturally-rooted care regardless of socioeconomic privilege. In doing so, we seek to revitalize and normalize ʻŌiwi prenatal, birth, and postpartum practices by foregrounding ʻike kūpuna and Indigenous knowledge and by centering the care/support of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander families through community outreach. By offering culturally relevant educational classes and workshops, in addition to providing access to high quality prenatal, birth, and postpartum services, we strive to positively influence birth and postpartum outcomes for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
