Kings County councils to recognize Oct. 15 as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day

“It gives me a focus,” the Halifax-area resident said in a recent phone interview.

Harmon founded the non-profit support and advocacy group Gardens of Grace after losing her three-year-old daughter, Grace Neala Tamsin Densmore, on Dec. 28, 2016.

“We took Grace into emergency with what everyone thought was just another minor bacterial infection to her bowel, only to have her die 18 hours later,” wrote Harmon in an e-mail to Kings County News. 


Grace, who was originally a twin, spent her first seven-and-a-half months in the IWK Health Centre. Harmon contracted a food-borne illness during pregnancy that resulted in her water breaking at 17 weeks. Grace’s twin did not survive.

Harmon travelled to the United Kingdom to visit family after Grace passed, and toured some memorial gardens designed with grieving families in mind.

“I happened upon a couple of memorial gardens, one for premature infants, stillbirths and miscarriages and another for organ and tissue donors and recipients, both that parents and families could add names to. Coming home, I wasn't really able to find anything similar, so, I guess you could say a cause of sorts was born,” she said.

Gardens of Grace was formed in an effort to raise awareness of stillbirth, miscarriage, pregnancy and child loss in hopes that more dialogue will lead to more bereavement care options throughout the Maritimes – and, eventually, the creation of memorial gardens similar to the ones Harmon visited in the UK.

“One of the biggest things that families find is they think everybody else has forgotten,” said Harmon in a follow-up interview.

It didn’t take long for Gardens of Grace to start having an impact after it was officially registered in August. The group has been advocating for municipal units throughout Nova Scotia to proclaim Oct. 15 as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.

As of Sept. 26, Harmon was aware of proclamation approvals from several units in Kings County, including the towns of Kentville, Wolfville and Berwick, the Village of New Minas and the Municipality of the County of Kings.

Elsewhere in the province, Harmon received early nods of approval from Chester District, Truro, Colchester, Barrington, Mulgrave, Cape Breton, Lunenburg, Stellarton, Trenton, Clark’s Harbour and Oxford.

Several communities have also committed to shining pink and blue lights on familiar landmarks Oct. 15 to create a visual display in recognition of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.

Harmon is urging MLAs throughout Nova Scotia to support a private member’s bill Pictou East MLA Tim Houston is expected to table Oct. 11 in an effort to have Oct. 15 recognized as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day at the provincial level.

Harmon sees the proclamations as vital steps in supporting ongoing efforts to shed light on a topic that is too often mistaken as off limits.

“Having lost my child it makes me sad, and everything that goes with it, but doing something to honour her has certainly helped,” she said.

“It doesn’t replace her, but it gives me a focus to help other people.”

Visit the Gardens of Grace Facebook page for more information about the peer-led support available for those suffering from pregnancy, infant and child loss.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness event in Berwick Oct. 15

Berwick resident Dana Rennie lost a daughter, Myla, to sudden infant death syndrome in May. She will be hosting a walk in her hometown to recognize Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day Oct. 15. The event will begin at Berwick and District School at 11 a.m., with a barbecue and children’s activities to follow around 1 p.m. There will be a live DJ and prize draws, and the proceeds raised will be donated to Babies Breath in the name of Myla, a seemingly healthy baby girl who died in her sleep eight days before turning five months old.