Rechelle Vermaak, SBD

Certified Birth & Bereavement Doula® serving Stellenbosch, South Africa

email: RechelleVermaak.SBD@stillbirthday.info

Rechélle has enrolled with the Stillbirthday Doula course as to compliment the bereavement work at the online support community for miscarriage and stillbirth in South Africa, called MyMiskraam.

It is a rather sad truth that South Africa has no official support group for parents that has been through this live changing event and that there is hardly any support in the local or private hospitals across the country. After being through a miscarriage and stillbirth herself, and realizing that it is such a lonely journey, she wanted to share the information learnt with other heart broken parents.

In 2012 Rechélle and Luzanne Nabel launched the Afrikaans website MyMiskraam and hosted the first formal Stillbirth and Miscarriage ceremony, in conjunction with other industry roll players at Legacy Parks outside of Stellenbosch.

The purpose of the website is to show other parents that they are not alone going through this trauma, and to equip them with tools to teach them what to expect, how to deal with the loss and feelings, what the law requires, and where to find local help in South Africa. This website is not a medical site, and it does not promise you answers on why it happened. But it does acknowledge that every one’s hurt is legitimate, no matter what stage of the pregnancy you lost your baby. Every parent’s feelings are real and deserves the respect from others. There is no right or wrong way – it is your way.

Part of the online support community is their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MyMiskraam that helps stimulate conversations between members.