Catherine Henry Lawyers has been, and continues to be involved in, a number of cases involving the loss of babies through miscarriage, stillbirth, or postnatal issues.
15 October is International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. It has not yet been formally declared as such, but there is certainly a movement behind having this day officially declared in Australia. A link to the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day website is here.
Kate Washington, former partner of Catherine Henry Lawyers and now the local MP for Port Stephens, spoke movingly about infant loss in the NSW State Parliament on 19 October 2016. A link to the short speech she delivered is here.
Jillian Skinner, Minister for Health, also spoke, mentioning that the Remembrance Day promotes awareness of services and support for grieving families. She went on to list the non-government organisations providing such support also, including the Birth and Baby Helpline, whose telephone number is 1800 882 436.
As Kate so eloquently noted, “probably because the loss is so private, so painful, and the words (“dead baby”) are so difficult even to put together, it is not often discussed”.
She mentioned also the fact that she had been involved, in her role at Catherine Henry Lawyers, in representing a number of families whose babies had died in utero, during or after birth.
We certainly join Kate when she says that:
”Those clients are the most courageous people I know. They shared with me their stories of loss. They spoke of holding their dead baby in their arms. One spoke of watching her baby suffer before he died. Another spoke of her disgust in herself for not holding her dead baby when she was given the opportunity, because she later wished she had done so.”
We are so proud of Kate and the work that she is doing for the community and in bringing important issues such as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day to the attention of Parliament.
