Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is not an easy topic to talk about. Tomorrow, 15 October, is International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. This day provides an opportunity for everyone affected by infant loss—the families, healthcare workers and friends—to commemorate their shared loss. Today, I particularly acknowledge my friend Isabella Brown and her family for the recent loss of their beautiful Lenny Lawrence. As mentioned by the member for Werriwa, around 150,000 women in Australia experience some form of pregnancy or infant loss each year, which is an astounding number and doesn't include all of those who would feel this profound loss, including fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents and siblings, to name a few.

I think all of us here would remember the public education campaign Back to Sleep by Red Nose Australia, designed to drive awareness of sudden infant death syndrome in the 1980s and 1990s. The tireless work of the organisation's founders was one of Australia's most successful public health campaigns and resulted in an incredible 85 per cent reduction in SIDS and saved the lives of over 10,000 babies.

Sadly, there is still a growing club that no parent ever wants to belong to, a club of heartbroken, devastated parents who have suffered from pregnancy and infant loss. In Australia alone, more than 2,000 babies are stillborn each year, with the cause unknown in approximately 40 per cent of these cases. That's six much-wanted babies every day, as we heard from the previous speaker. That's more than double the national road toll. Incredibly, this number hasn't changed in 20 years, but there has been a shift in focusing on this issue, both at a federal government level and by organisations including Red Nose and SANDS Australia.

On 27 March 2018, the Senate established the Select Committee on Stillbirth Research and Education to inquire and report on the future of stillbirth research and education in Australia. The committee tabled its report on 4 December 2018. As a result of the report, the federal Minister for Health, the Hon. Greg Hunt, convened a national round table to address the rate of stillbirth in Australia and pledged a commitment of $7.2 million for medical research and education programs, which includes the development of a national action and implementation plan in collaboration with clinicians, researchers and advocacy groups. As we've heard, $3 million of this funding will go towards addressing awareness and programs for women and medical practitioners across Australia. Another $3 million will fund stillbirth research through the Medical Research Future Fund, with research priorities to be guided by the national round table, and $1.2 million is being granted to the University of Melbourne for research to minimise preventable stillbirth through the use of biomarkers and ultrasound in late pregnancy.

In addition, the Morrison government has committed $43.9 million for a new perinatal mental health program, which will help to support the mental health of expectant and new parents in Australia and provide support for families experiencing grief following stillbirth, miscarriage or infant death, and $1.3 million for SANDS Australia to deliver an intensive support service for families following miscarriage and stillbirth.

We can often get caught up in the facts and figures, but we need to remind ourselves that there are real mums and dads behind the statistics who leave the hospital empty-handed. It's these bereaved parents, who are left bewildered, devastated and often without answers, that drives the government's response. We want to ensure that these numbers become obsolete and that no parent has to suffer the loss of their beautiful baby.

Finally, I'd like to acknowledge a number of wonderful organisations that provide assistance and guidance during a time of infant loss, including SANDS Australia, who offer an incredible volunteer peer-to-peer support service for bereaved parents face-to-face and over the phone, including dads, who are often overlooked when we talk about stillbirth; Heartfelt, a volunteer organisation of photographers who capture beautiful images of parents with their stillborn babies and give families a chance to create some cherished memories; Bears of Hope, who provide cuddle cots, a cooling system that lies beneath the baby, to allow families to extend the brief time that they are together with their babies and reduce the distress of separation; and Stillbirth Foundation Australia, who provide research and education in this area, while also providing information around bereavement support. To all the parents and families who have suffered from infant loss, we remember you and your precious babies on this day.

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