SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month
October 22, 2026
Honourable senators, October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and October 15 marks Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day — a time to honour the lives that were hoped for, the lives that were lost and the love that remains.
For countless women and families, pregnancy begins with the quiet dream of a future yet to unfold. When a pregnancy ends in loss or an infant’s life is cut tragically short, those dreams are interrupted, leaving behind a sorrow that words can seldom capture.
Whether through miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, stillbirth or infant loss, each experience is deeply personal. Yet, too often, the pain is carried in silence, unseen or unacknowledged.
Throughout my 35 years practising family medicine, I had the privilege of supporting patients through both the hope and anticipation of pregnancy and the profound heartbreak of loss. Despite how common these experiences are, they too often remain surrounded by silence and stigma.
Across Canada, women and families continue to navigate these experiences without adequate support. Beyond physical recovery, many face emotional distress, isolation and the difficult task of returning to everyday life while coping with an often invisible loss.
Access to medical follow-up, mental health services and, importantly, bereavement counselling remains uneven, particularly in rural and remote communities.
We must move beyond awareness toward meaningful action. This means strengthening national data collection, advancing research into the physical and psychological impacts of pregnancy and infant loss and working across jurisdictions to ensure families have access to timely, compassionate and continuous care.
Honourable senators, grief does not allow for a timeline, nor does love end when a life is lost. Even the briefest of lives can leave an enduring imprint on the hearts of those who loved them.
To every woman and family who has experienced pregnancy or infant loss: Your experience matters. May you find comfort in knowing that you are seen, your loss is acknowledged and you do not have to carry it alone.
Thank you. Meegwetch.
