Certificates to be issued for stillborn children
Losing a child at any age is a devastating experience for parents.
Facilitator of the Albany-based Bereaved Parents Group Symantha Parr meets with other grieving parents once a month to support each other and talk about their experiences.
Ms Parr gave birth to a stillborn child, Jet, at full-term.
She received a birth certificate for Jet and said she kept it as a record of his life.
"I think, for me, getting a birth certificate for Jet was really important," she said.
"It shows as evidence perhaps, even to say that, yes, he was here."
She said friends who had gone through the same experience kept their children's birth certificates in a special place.
"A lot of my friends have it framed or in a photo album," she said.
The State Government previously only recognised stillborn babies with a birth certificate if they were born after 20 weeks or weighed 400g and above, but recently announced stillborn babies lost before 20 weeks would be recognised by the WA Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
"There's never closure, but I think it's an important step in receiving that for those people who haven't been able to or couldn't," Ms Parr said.
"It's so arbitrary - your baby's born at 19 weeks and you can't get one."
She said it was good that the department recognised stillborn children at less than 20 weeks.
"Late-term miscarriages, it's all such a blurry area so it's really nice the department has come around to try to be sensitive and acknowledge that it's a hard thing and a very grey area," she said.
If you're a grieving parent who's lost a child at any age, call 0428 639 461 to learn more about the Bereaved Parents Group or call 1300 308 307 to speak to someone at the 24-hour parent support helpline.
