Pregnancy Problem House is a critically important organisation that assists women in post-abortion recovery and support.
Healing and Health
During Table Talk this week, Doug had the opportunity to talk to Executive Director, Michelle Macormic, and learn how Pregnancy Problem House lends support to the community.
“We really want people to have healthy conversations, to have restoration in their relationships and their connections, to have healing and to have peace,” she began.
Who are Pregnancy Problem House?
Pregnancy Problem House (PPH) is a registered charity in WA. Their clients are predominantly teens, women, couples and families who are affected by unintended pregnancy, unsupported early parenting and unresolved pregnancy loss. She explained that Pregnancy Problem House is a means of support to allow people to get to a point where they can move forward in their lives – and that they aim to form friendships. They are strictly non-medical but do offer mental health support. The fantastic team of counsellors do an initial assessment and provide ongoing support and work through past hurts. They work with people to help them advocate for themselves and improve their ability to communicate.
Who Are The Clients?
Pregnancy Problem House offer services to clients ranging in age from early teens navigating pregnancy to women in their 40s. They have also counselled women in their 60s, 70s, 80s who have had a pregnancy termination decades ago but didn’t have support available to them at the time.
“Our ongoing parenting program is called Hero Mums. It’s a free program where mums are assigned one-on-one to a beautiful mentor who walks with them and helps them get ready for the future. That includes education, group sessions, and access to resources.”
Mothers who participate in this program can redeem and accumulate points and gain a sense of achievement and celebration. The final leg is support for reproductive loss and post-abortion trauma.
Honour and Commemorate the Loss
October is Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month and Michelle reminded the community that it is an opportunity to honour those moments of loss. “To remember unborn babies, and wrap our arms around those families. Just to say the name of their children and say that their loss matters and deserves our time, our grief, our energy,” she said.
First Steps to Friendship
Doug asked what the first steps are for someone who needs to reach out to the organisation. Michelle replied, “There’s a lot of pressure to sort of not talk about it, the whole nature of abortion wraps it in secrecy. In fact, sometimes people choose an abortion to keep the situation a secret,” she continued. “We want you to know that there are people who care. People who’ll meet you right where you’re at and walk with you as long as you need us.”
She encouraged anyone dealing with perinatal loss to contact 1300 200 406.
Michelle also outlined there are 5 centres in WA – in Balcatta, Langford, Hamilton Hill, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie. There’s also online chats or phone support for people who can’t make it to a local centre. Their centres feature beautiful rooms that she described as feeling like being at Nana’s house.
“You just come in and you get a comfy chair. You are safe here. Take a really big breath and just tell us the story.”
Peel The Onion
Pregnancy Problem House offer free sessions where they work on the journey of remembering what has happened, honouring it and identifying the layers.
“Abortion trauma is like an onion. You sort of peel through one layer and there’s another and there’s another and there’s another. And we actually expect that when people start in post-abortion recovery care with us that their journey may be a bit up and down. There’ll be moments where it just gets a bit too heavy or a bit too hard and we actually tell them we anticipate that, they might need a break. They might need to sort of step back a little bit but our door stays open forever.”
A Testimony of Hope
As Executive Director, Michelle stated confidentiality as a critical element of what they do and maintained every client’s right to privacy. They only share stories with written permission and with safety as their highest priority. She continued with a story about a young lady who was new to Perth and lacking family support. When she discovered she was pregnant, she gave Pregnancy Problem House a call and disclosed that due to an earlier termination when she was a teenager, she was now struggling to feel excited about her pregnancy because of her shame-filled termination at 17.
Michelle was able to explain what their counsellors were able to do for this young lady. “She said that her counsellor helped her feel whole, feel understood and understand that the person she was back then did the best that she knew.”
Michelle noted that it is not unlike having a funeral when a child dies. With miscarriage there is very little to hold on to, “And so by creating those tangible grieving tools, there’s something to grasp. There’s something that’s, I’m not just rattling it around in my head. This is something that’s real.”
This young lady credited Pregnancy Problem House’s services in helping to become a healthy, connected and present mother, when she gave birth to her son. She was able to do so without the shadows of the past hanging over her head.
“There is hope, there is a journey,” said Michelle. “It can be kind of scary and there will be moments where you feel really challenged. but at the end there’s health and there’s hope, there’s healing, there’s promise and there’s future. We can keep moving forward.”
Online Art and Jewellery Auction
Doug acknowledged Pregnancy Problem House as a self-funded organisation who are able to hold events such as online art and jewellery auctions. They have been hosting these auctions for the last eight or nine years, said Michelle. “Everything in the auction has been donated by our supporters. We have some gorgeous jewellery that’s come in from over the place.”
The bidding opened on October 20th and will run for two weeks. Auction items include original art from West Australian artists and 100% of proceeds go to Pregnancy Problem House so they can continue to offer compassionate, life-changing services.
PPH is a 100% donor funded charity! If you’d like to support the amazing work of PPH, check out their Online Art and Jewellery Auction
For more information, head to their website Pregnancy Problem House
You can listen to the full chat below.
Lifeline‘s number is 131 114, for anyone who is struggling with pregnancy loss or abortion issues.