News from the Room
A mother’s Journey
Meet Tonia.
As a mother of three boys, two on earth and one in heaven, Tonia shares her story of loss, love, and gratitude for the care that helped her through.
Tonia’s journey as a mum began in 2015, when she said hello and goodbye to her firstborn, Mason, on the same day. After sharing the excitement of their 20-week ultrasound with family, she and her husband started buying nursery items and preparing for their first child, only to hear the words no parent should ever hear:
“I’m sorry, there’s no heartbeat.”
What followed was complete devastation. She was induced, gave birth, and faced the heartbreaking task of saying goodbye and planning Mason’s funeral. “To many outside our immediate family, Mason was just a name,” Tonia said. “To us, he was our whole world.”
Later that year, she gave birth to her second son, Jacob. “My anxiety was through the roof throughout that pregnancy,” she said. “I was a regular presence in my obstetrician’s rooms, especially around the 24-week mark when Mason had been stillborn.”
This February marked Mason’s 10th anniversary. In the years since, life has brought both joy and challenges. Today, Tonia is a solo mother by choice to her youngest son, Jasper, now 18 months old, a little boy full of life who has brought new energy to the family.
Tonia was relieved to be accepted into the Pregnancy After Loss Care Team at the Royal Women’s Hospital. “Nothing was too big or small for Julia, Pauline and the team. Extra scans, as many visits as I needed, even after passing 24 weeks. They understood the fear that comes with every pregnancy after loss. There’s no ‘safe’ stage for us.”
“I’m so thankful for my family, and for people like Julia and her team, who understand these precious little lives matter, no matter how long it has been.”
Tonia is sharing her story to support Scooting for Hope, a Guinness World Record fundraising event started by bereaved father Rob Saunders, founder of Room Eleven, aiming to raise $100,000 for the The Royal Women's Hospital’s Pregnancy After Loss Team — the same team that helped bring Jasper safely into the world.
SCOOTING FOR HOPE
24 Hours - 1 Scooter - 1 Purpose
$100K for Pregnancy after loss Care
The 411
This Week at Room Eleven
I missed last week’s update. Things have been busy and the pressure around Scooting for Hope is climbing fast. Instead of writing an update last week, I tried to switch off for one night. It worked about eight percent. I’ll take it.
Scooting for Hope update
A lot has come together:
A set of DJs have been booked across the weekend
We have professional Comedians hosting the live broadcast
A lap timer ready to track speed and distance
40 Globber scooters for kids and adults to use at the track
A brand new model of the scooter I used to cross Ireland in 2018 (plus spares)
Insurance has been sorted
A medical team locked in for the 30th for invited supporters
Hop Nation setting up a bar with their non alcoholic range
Xlent Events sending two giant dinosaurs to entertain kids for an hour
It is forming into a proper event that should be fun for families. Still, challenges keep rolling in. Securing financial support has been like shouting into a void. We keep pushing.
Bereaved dads workshops
I facilitated a workshop for a research project focused on bereaved fathers impacted by TFMR. Strong session. Some things hit harder than I expected, especially the reality of TFMR in private religious hospitals. Being told to go elsewhere or stay the course until a likely stillbirth feels like a problem that should have been solved decades ago.
I have one more session this week. Looking forward to it.
Future events
After Scooting for Hope, the work around pregnancy after loss continues. I will head to Brisbane for the first national Pregnancy After Loss workshop. Clinicians and researchers from around Australia will meet to build new approaches to a national care network. Speakers from the US and UK will join. I met the US team in Sri Lanka last year and we have kept in touch through the US bereaved parents committee, so it will be good to reconnect in person.
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Keeping it short. Most of my head is tied up in Scooting for Hope and everything linked to pregnancy after loss. Once the event is done, the newsletters will return to full strength with proper weekly musings and ruminations.
Thanks for sticking around during the chaos.
If you’d like to help us keep moving forward with Scooting for Hope and the work of Room Eleven, the best way is to share this newsletter, spread the word, or reach out if you’d like to get involved.
See you next week.
Rob
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