Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Day

The October 15th campaign raises awareness for a variety of issues that are the direct result of the death of a child, either before birth (during pregnancy) or after birth.

Goals:

• Get society to acknowledge the significance of the life of each baby and to understand the devastation for families following the death of a baby.
• Ask society to honour and remember the babies who died with their families and realize that these babies are still part of the families – no matter how much time has passed since their death.
• Educate society to be mindful of the uniqueness of each death. These are complex issues that cannot be addressed with simple checklists or generic recommendations. Although the common element is the death of a child and grieving the child, each tragedy occurs in individual situations and might lead to unique challenges. The same applies to the time when the baby dies. Miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death are very different events with unique and shared challenges, but differences as well, e.g. a stillbirth for one family can feel and unfold very differently from a stillbirth for another family based on many factors.
• Create a more supportive environment in which society is empathetic and compassionate with bereaved parents.
• Encourage decision-makers in health professions to implement crucial support services for parents who have to endure the death of their child.
• Increase research to find answers to why babies die so that we can prevent the death of babies.

For more information, please visit: https://www.october15.ca/