Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion by the member opposite and thank her for raising this very important issue. The news of a new pregnancy can be a time for joy and celebration for parents as they prepare to welcome new life into their world. Tragically, this is not the outcome of every pregnancy, and not all babies born get to come home. Tragically, every day in Australia, 282 women experience a miscarriage. Let's think about that for just a moment—282 women every day experience a miscarriage. Every day, six babies are stillborn and two die within the first 28 days of their birth. While these statistics provide little consolation for the loss of a child, it may help to know that couples and families are not alone in this experience. Despite these staggering statistics, 74 per cent of couples report feeling unsupported in their experience.

On 15 October we recognise Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day and acknowledge those that have lost a child through miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death. There are many organisations providing support for families, such as Red Nose, Still Aware, Sands and Miracle Babies, and I thank them for the work they do. I would also like to highlight some amazing people in my electorate of Petrie that are helping to support families in their loss journey. Karen Hollindale is a midwife who lives in North Lakes. She is the clinical director of My Midwives North Lakes, an award-winning private midwifery practice in Queensland and Victoria. Karen has been a midwife for 22 years and has worked with many expectant parents, providing midwifery continuity of care through pregnancy, birth and postnatal care, which sadly includes working with parents in their stillbirth/pregnancy loss journey. I asked Karen to describe the stillbirth and pregnancy loss journey from a practitioner's lens, and this is what she said:

Stillbirth and pregnancy is never easy. It's hard to find the words to support the families - how do you tell them that life is going to be ok when they are walking in the saddest days of their lives. We help them make choices to celebrate the life of their much-loved baby. We take on some of their sorrow - and wish we could give them back the life they have lost. We remember their baby's birthdays forever. We are always honoured to share that journey with them - despite the hurt that we share a small part of. I take a part of these families with me always - they forever hold a special place in my heart.

What an incredibly beautiful reflection of the shared story between bereaved parents and their healthcare providers.

Barbara Armstrong, from Mango Hill, is another incredible woman in the electorate of Petrie, who recently started a not-for-profit called Sweet Peanuts, after her own experience of miscarriage in 2019. Barbara found support from other bereaved parents helped her to deal with feelings of depression, grief and isolation, and she now donates care packages to local hospitals in the Moreton Bay region, to give other families the same support.

Up until recently, the local hospital in my electorate, Redcliffe Hospital, lacked dedicated private rooms for women labouring with a baby that has passed away in the womb. With the combined advocacy of the Redcliffe Hospital Auxiliary, Hand Heart Pocket and other local suppliers, a specialist care room, also known as the Jacaranda room, now provides families with a purpose-built room for stillbirth, a kitchenette with a fridge, dimmable light, darkened windows and a sofa bed to accommodate support people. The room is set to open officially at the end of October, but it has already been in use since June of this year.

In September last year the Morrison government introduced an amendment to the Fair Work Act, as part of the Sex Discrimination and Fair Work (Respect at Work) Amendment Bill, stating that employees were to be provided with two days of paid bereavement leave for parents who experience a miscarriage. I'd like to thank my former colleague the member for Ryan at the time, Julian Simmonds, for his instrumental advocacy in helping get this bill through. Policy change creates cultural change, and anyone who experiences a miscarriage, regardless of gender, deserves dedicated time off.

Lastly, my deepest sympathies go out to all who have experienced this the loss of a child. We're with you.

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