Winnipeg's Dragonfly program helps individuals and families cope with pregnancy, infant loss

Pregnancy or infant loss is something many families deal with, but a new program at the Women's Health Clinic in Winnipeg aims to help people cope.

The Dragonfly Support Programhelps address the impact of losing a little onethrough individual and group counselling, which are free of charge.

"Sometimes people are surprised to find that in these experiences, they might feel relief,they might feel numb, and then, of course, there's also some of those emotions you might expect, like sadness. And sometimes it's all of those at once," Erin Bockstael, the team leader with family and community programs at the clinic said in an interview on CBC Manitoba's Weekend Morning Showon Saturday.

Those feelings can be hard to talk about.

"You worry about the effects on them to hear about your experience, and also people sometimes have shame or guilt associated with these experiences that make them feel like there's a real stigma," Bockstael said.

LISTEN | How the Dragonfly Support Program aims to help people address loss

The programincorporatesIndigenous teachings and practices, under the supervision of Louise McKay, an elder and the director of leadership at the clinic..

McKay sayspart of the goal is to show families that birth can take many forms.

"You were pregnant, you had a fetus growing inside of you, and now that fetus is no longer there, but when you look at it from a traditional Indigenous perspective, everything that's conceived is birth. That particular birth happened in spirit world, it didn't happen in the human world," she said.

The support groups have been meeting for the last several weeks during Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, and Bockstael says she thinks people are finding community and connection.

"Talking to others who are in similar situations really seems to help people feel less alone, feel less isolated and feel supported," she said.

The Dragonfly Support Program is also looking for caring and empathetic volunteers who have lived experience to help lead support groups.