Anna and Yan Shill see Giving Tuesday as an opportunity to share their heartbreaking, and mending, journey into parenthood with the support of the Pacific Perinatal Foundation (PPF).
In 2022 the couple’s baby Willem was delivered stillborn due to a rare condition where the umbilical cord stops blood flow prior to, or during, delivery.
“We had no complications during my first pregnancy and our hospital team was amazing,” Anna said in a news release. “Even after Willem was delivered, the team helped me through the initial steps of being with our son for days, arranging medical counselling and funeral planning.”
After two more miscarriages, the Shills now have a healthy, and loved, three-month-old son named James but the path was not an easy one. After Willem, Anna quickly learned the medical system provided few resources for her situation.
“When you’re pregnant, there are ultrasound appointments, medical check ins, family visits, Lamaze classes, and even more if you are discovered to have complications. But weeks and months after you experience a lost pregnancy it’s so easy to find yourself alone and in a dark place.”
The Shills are far from alone; about seven in every 1,000 babies in Canada are stillborn, according to PPF. And families are overwhelmingly unprepared and unaware of the resources that can help them through that kind of tragic occurrence.
After suffering panic attacks and night terrors, Anna was referred to the PPF, a local organization that provides support, advocacy, and community for individuals and families navigating the difficult paths of infertility, pregnancy loss, and perinatal challenges, where she received grief counselling support.
“In this province and across Canada, there is such a lack of structure in place to help those who go through such a significant loss,” said counsellor Brid Shine, who was introduced to Anna and Yann through PPF.
“There’s so much horror, trauma and irrational guilt that happens after the death of a child. Families need structured support to get them to a place where they can properly grieve and then heal.”
The Victoria-based charity helps fill that void for people across Vancouver Island – integrating hospital and community-based services to provide seamless support through the clinical, emotional, psychological and spiritual experience of pregnancy loss and reproductive trauma.
Visit pacificperinatalfoundation.com to learn how to support the organization.
