October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month
Michelle LaFontaine recalls the first time she wore a small pregnancy loss pin when popping out to the grocery store.
“A woman stopped me and asked what it represented. I took a deep breath and explained that I had lost a baby. I appreciated her interest, and felt stronger after sharing,” says Michelle, Program Manager of Sunnybrook’s Pregnancy and Infant Loss (PAIL) Network.
The pin is part of an awareness kit provided free of charge by the PAIL Network to families across Ontario. October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month and the PAIL Network is encouraging families to initiate more conversations around pregnancy loss and infant death.
Michelle shares her story of loss with anyone who is open to listening. “Small things like wearing an awareness pin can lead to organic conversations. Sharing your journey can be very empowering and also help educate those around you about loss and how you’re experiencing grief,” she adds.
Each kit comes with an embroidered key chain, a lapel pin and a sweetgrass smudge stick. The inclusion of the sweetgrass smudge stick resulted from the network’s work with Indigenous families and in First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities across Ontario.
“We were intentional about including sweetgrass in the kit. Sweetgrass is the sacred hair of Mother Earth, it is considered the great connector as it heals the mind and body, ridding it of any negative thoughts and energies,” says Joanna Diindiisikwe, Special Projects Coordinator, PAIL Network.
Joanna explains that by adding a sacred medicine to the family awareness kit the hope is to provide support that is inclusive for all families across Ontario, as well as sharing teachings of Indigenous culture through the pregnancy and infant loss awareness campaign.
PAIL Network has also designed a kit for health and service professionals to support their work with families. The compassionate care provided by professionals to grieving parents has a significant impact on how they begin to cope with the loss of their babies.
“By participating in this awareness campaign, our hope is that more conversations around pregnancy loss and infant death will be had, and more bereaved families will be heard,” says Michelle.
To order an awareness kit, and for more information and resources on supporting families, visit PAIL. If you have questions, please email pailnetwork@sunnybrook.ca or call 888-303-7245 (PAIL).
