Vicki Culling Associates

11/09/2026

Language matters, it carries weight, it leaves residue, language matters. Thanks Dr. Joanne Cacciatore

06/09/2026

This is a post from Dr. Joanne Cacciatore, copied from LinkedIn

Between 2018 and 2022, the number of countries with a national plan to prevent the death of a baby at or before birth rose from 59% to 87%. Yet, the rates of death barely changed. Seven of the twenty measures researchers hoped to track had no data at all.

This tells us something important: A plan on paper isn't the same as care in the real world.

Families don't experience a national strategy. They experience what happens during and after their baby's death. They experience whether someone speaks plainly and tenderly, whether they are given time, whether they are offered choices, whether anyone recognizes that this baby is a beloved child who died, not a lost pregnancy. They are a family forever changed.

The scorecard found the most progress where commitments could be written down. And, in the domains that matter most to bereaved families, respectful care, stigma, equity, and the quality of care, the global record is not merely poor. The data seem to be largely absent.

The distance between policy and presence is not merely an administrative failure. It is an ethical one. And it's a gap bereaved families have been carrying for far too long.

Thank you ISA–SAWG for your very important work. I'm hopeful for and with you and future families who will know this tragic loss.

Background The Lancet Ending Preventable Stillbirths series issued a global Call to Action to reduce stillbirths and improve bereavement care. To monitor progress, we developed a global scorecard to...

18/08/2026

The baby loss counselling charity in the UK, Petals, has shared an article about trauma after baby loss. Baby loss is inherently traumatic, with feelings of total powerlessness and a threat to life (our baby's or babies' and sometimes our own).

Petals shares gentle advice to help bereaved parents navigate grief, parenting and the school holidays after baby loss.

28/07/2026

Our first Rainbow Whānau Baby Loss online support meeting takes place this evening ❤️

12/07/2026

This week is Birth Trauma Awareness Week. Birth Trauma Aotearoa reminds us to keep our own needs in mind and step away from social media if we need to. Baby loss is part of the birth trauma experience, and while we often love every opportunity to talk about our much loved, and so very much missed, babies - thinking about the circumstances of their death might not be something we want to focus on. Go gently, and for those supporting bereaved whānau, please wrap them in aroha this week

02/07/2026

A second, and important, piece of news that was announced at yesterday's stillbirth registration launch - out of a $20 million allocation for maternal mental health, $5 million is dedicated to the mental health needs of bereaved whānau ...

“Budget 2026 invests $5 million to go further and support implementation of the mental health components of the new pathway. It will ensure parents and families experiencing pregnancy or baby loss have faster access to mental health support.

This funding will ensure bereaved parents receive coordinated support that matches their needs. Families who need mental health assessment, intervention or ongoing support following a loss will be able to receive it."

Work begins soon on how this will be developed and implemented.

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/registration-stillborn-babies-be-made-easier

Send a message to learn more

02/07/2026

Last call for the next VCA Professional Series online course. We start Monday 6th and then it won't be available again until July 2027.

02/07/2026

Yesterday I attended the launch of the new stillbirth registration process within the Wheturangitia website, by Minister Matt Doocey. This gives bereaved families the option of a more compassionate pathway, and they can still choose the regular Smart Start pathway as well. In hui with bereaved whānau for the project, it was pointed out that going online and filling out the forms for a precious baby who has died was hard, and then to be met with a charge of $37 at the end for the certificate, was incredibly disappointing at the very least. Watch this space, as the waiving of the fee is part of the next phase of work in this project.

Families of stillborn babies and their advocates want the fee for birth certificates waived.

05/06/2026

The Waves of Change conference on the Gold Coast in early August has extended the early bird pricing until 30 June.

Join leading clinicians, researchers, advocates, policy leaders, and bereaved parents for two inspiring days of connection, collaboration, innovation, and change in perinatal and stillbirth care.

https://forms.matereducation.qld.edu.au/waves-of-change-2026/

01/06/2026

After last week's budget, this is where we are in the baby loss community. We were hoping, but not holding our breath, that this government might just consider the needs of bereaved whānau. We had done the mahi, presented them with a road map, and... nothing. We're told Tuituia te Kahu is being used as 'a critical point of reference', but that simply feels like more of the same. So here's to more energy, more awareness raising, more voices speaking of the need for this pathway; and let's not care about the dirt on our face, the blood on our knees, let's keep rising for yet another go! One day we'll see structured support for whānau when a baby dies.