Dear Readers,

While we have the enthusiastic and heartfelt support of local MPs, neither the Australian federal government nor the State government of New South Wales have yet to respond to our simple request: for October 15th to be officially recognised as International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Day in Australia (as it already is across the USA and in parts of Canada).

This matter was first brought forward in Parliament in August and Sept. 2008. Both times, the matter was adjourned and there have been no developments since.

For those of us who have lost babies through miscarriage, stillbirth or post natal death, this is a woeful outcome. We at PILARI are not satisfied with where this matter has been left, so we have once again rallied the support of both MPs, who are about to raise this matter in Parliament again. They have also invited me to write a new letter to both the Federal and State Ministers for Health. I thought you might be interested in seeing the letter, so it is reproduced below.

Onwards and upwards!

Cheers,
Nicole B
Volunteer for PILARI

(The same letter as below has also been sent to:
The Hon. John Della Bosca, Minister for Health, State of NSW)



June 16th, 2009

The Hon. Nicola Roxon, Federal Minister for Health
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600

Dear Mrs. Roxon:


Re International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day


My local MP, Joanna Gash (Gilmore) suggested I contact you. I refer to the motion she brought forward in Parliament on 28 August 2008: requesting that 15 October be officially declared as International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day across Australia.

I followed up with Mrs. Gash to see if any further developments have taken place since then. She indicated that she was not aware of any. Thus, I have written to request your support.

I am an Australian citizen who has survived 4 miscarriages. I am certainly not alone: one out of every four Australian women has lost a baby. One out of every three pregnancies ends in loss. Each year across the developed world alone: one in every 148 babies is stillborn, 3 in every 1000 babies dies shortly after birth, and an estimated 500,000 miscarriages take place. Through miscarriage alone then, we lose one baby every minute.

This is only shocking because our loss is not socially sanctioned: rather, it is disenfranchised and unintentionally trivialised. Platitudes abound, particularly with early pregnancy loss. As a result, we bereaved parents ‘go underground’ – but although, we don’t talk about it, the grave and prolonged suffering continues.

Official recognition of International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day would be a step in the right direction, then, towards vital healing for tens of thousands of Australians. It would give these bereaved parents (as well as their surviving children) the chance to formally acknowledge and honour their lost babies. This recognition might also attract more research into the prevention of pregnancy and infant loss, and thereby reduce the grief suffered so widely across our country.

15 October is officially recognised as International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day across the USA and in parts of Canada. On behalf of the tens of thousands of Australians who have also lost babies, I ask for your support to have this Day officially recognised across Australia too.

I find it very disappointing that further developments have not been achieved for this matter. This is quite a simple request that would cost our government nothing, and yet could have such far reaching, ongoing and positive outcomes.

Mrs. Roxon, I ask you to bring this matter forward in Parliament again, with the aim of having this Remembrance Day officially declared. Thank you.

Yours Sincerely,