Deborah de Wilde and Belinda Power, Obstetric Social workers at the Mater Hospital, facilitate 3 support groups for parents who have experienced the death of their baby.

The Bereavement Support group offers support for families who have lost a baby as a result of stillbirth or death in the newborn period. The mourning that follows the death of a baby is not about forgetting or ‘moving on’ but the difficult process of working through the feelings which accompany the death of the baby: anxiety, yearning, self-blame, loneliness, anger and resentment, envy and sadness. The group offers a place where parents can feel safe, supported and able to find their unique path through their grief.

The Pregnancy After Loss Group  is a unique antenatal support and education group for parents who have previously experienced the death of a baby. The group provides parents an opportunity to meet with others who have also experienced the death of baby and now face the joy, uncertainty and anxiety of another pregnancy.

The Parenting After Loss Group – following the birth of the babies, the group continues as a parent and baby group, a place for parents to reflect upon their journey to parenthood and to discuss the experience of getting to know and love their ‘new’ baby, while holding close their loving bond with their baby who has died.