 History
"It can be
a daunting experience to grieve all alone." Lynne Schulz
Based in Murray Bridge
South Australia, approximately 85km south
east of Adelaide, Murraylands Twin Loss has
certainly been making an impact in Australia and overseas.
Under the name of the Murraylands Lutheran SISS (Stillborn
Infant Support Service), the service was established in October 1992 to
bridge the gap between rural and city facilities in the area of infant loss.
Initially, set up to cater for the needs of families in the Murraylands
region of South Australia who suffered any form of pregnancy loss, it
eventually developed into one of the few organisations around the world that
could specialise in twin loss and other higher order multiple loss issues.
All counselling services were provided free of charge, and the Founder and
Co-ordinator, Lynne Schulz worked hard to build links with hospitals, church
groups, counsellors, medical professionals, other bereavement groups, as well
as some Government agencies.
Besides being a bereaved parent, Lynne Schulz is a trained
bereavement counsellor, completing courses with Lutheran Community Care, Adelaide, and the Bonnie
Babes Foundation Inc. Victoria. Her background of having resided in both a
city and rural environment makes her ideally suited to understanding the
needs of people, no matter where they live.
In later years, due to the high demand for twin loss
resources, Lynne moved away from personal counselling to concentrate on the
educational aspects of bereavement care work. Her partnership with the Apex
Club of Murray Bridge in 2002, resulted in the highly successful Apex
Australia Twin Loss Awareness Kit. (see the
speeches page for more information).
Although modern society seems to have greatly progressed in
its more positive attitude towards bereavement care, attention to multiple pregnancy
loss issues is still lagging behind. Murraylands Twin Loss was instrumental
in working on an Australia
wide project to place ‘multiple pregnancy loss awareness kits’ into hospitals
with obstetrics units, in an attempt to better educate medical professionals
on the unique needs of families who lose a twin/triplet/quadruplet.
Resource
books such as "The Diary" and “The Survivor” have become valuable
extensions of the work being done by Murraylands Twin Loss and can be
purchased online from links on the purchasing page.
(click here)
Over the years, Murraylands Twin Loss has worked hard to
improve bereavement care education and has donated various books to local
schools, hospitals, libraries and women's information centres. The main aim
of the organisation is to break down the massive wall of fear and ignorance
surrounding grief, and to replace it with love and understanding.
In January 2005 it was decided that a name change would suit
the new direction of the organisation and so the name was altered to
‘Murraylands Twin Loss’.
This organisation also highly recognises
and recommends the work done by University
of South Australia Research Assistant Dr Jane Warland PhD,
and lists the following books as suggested reading:
  For children: "Our Baby Died" (out of print)
For parents in a subsequent pregnancy: "Pregnancy After
Loss".
(Available online through the Australian Online Bookshop)
For Midwives "The midwife and the bereaved family (Available online through Ausmed
Publications)
Please
Click here to visit Dr Warland’s webpage
Remember - it can be a
daunting experience to grieve all alone, and only by everyone working
together, will we be able to provide the best support for bereaved parents
throughout the world.
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