PRESS RELEASE: SEASON 2 OF THE GLIMMER PODCAST, LAUNCHING APRIL 2021 Providing much needed support for families impacted by baby loss

SEASON 2 OF THE GLIMMER PODCAST, LAUNCHING APRIL 2021
Providing much needed support for families impacted by baby loss

• Hear a father’s perspective
• How baby loss impacts grandparents
• Navigating pregnancy after loss
• How to survive social media
• Relationships after loss
• The podcast is a FREE resource that can be downloaded via Apple Podcasts or Spotify
• Launches April 5th 2021

The Glimmer podcast was created in Queensland, Australia, in 2020 and is now internationally renowned with more than 10,000 downloads. Season two is about to launch with all new episodes discussing the impacts on fathers and grandparents, as well as navigating the minefield that is social media and pregnancy, after pregnancy and newborn loss.

“Fathers also struggle through this loss and tend to have even fewer resources or support systems to lean on,” according to Dr Ashleigh Smith, obstetrician and founder of the Glimmer Podcast. “Social media is a real minefield after the loss of a baby,” she says. “Whether it’s happy photos of baby showers and first birthday parties, or the distressing mass social media groups which can be so triggering and impersonal.” Season two of Glimmer tackles all those issues, and many more.

Dr Smith, based in Queensland, is the host of the show and created Glimmer after losing her daughter Isla to pregnancy complications in early 2020. “I wanted to create a podcast to hear wisdom and insights from people affected by baby loss, and share it with the baby loss community, in the hope it might provide support to others,” she says. “I wanted to interview people ahead of me on the grief journey and discover how they survived.”

She created the first season of The Glimmer Podcast from her kitchen table in the middle of the pandemic and every episode was recorded with guests remotely.

The first season focuses on seeking professional support from specialists commonly accessed by grieving parents. It features specialists with a unique perspective, having also lost children themselves via perinatal death. Interviewees include perinatal grief psychologists such as Julee Pinel, grief and loss international speaker Heather Plett, author Annabel Bower who wrote Miles Apart, and Senator Kristina Keneally, who spearheaded Australia’s Stillbirth Senate Inquiry.

Dr Smith says, “This podcast is helping, it is meaningful and it speaks to women who lost their baby yesterday, and women who lost their baby 50 years ago. It will speak to those who lose their babies tomorrow. It gives information, hope, wisdom and connection to a completely underserviced, isolated and marginalised group of mums and families who have suffered the death of their baby.”

“It validates their grief, builds a sense of community and it inspires a glimmer of hope for their future.” With more than 10,000 downloads internationally, Glimmer featured in the top 2020 podcasts in Australia, UK, USA and South Africa.

Season 2 is launching April 5th and thanks to feedback from listeners, the scope has broadened to explore different perspectives and aspects of life after baby loss including hearing from fathers and grandparents, and exploring how to navigate social media and pregnancy after loss.

The Glimmer Podcast’s success and contribution to the child loss community has been recognized by Stillbirth Foundation Australia and Blue Hearts. Blue Hearts is an initiative founded by Josh and Holly Ryan in honour of their son Bluey Ryan. Blue Hearts raises funds and awareness for stillbirth, and identifies worthy projects and causes which support or work towards preventing baby loss. Blue Hearts and the Stillbirth Foundation are proudly providing funding and production support for the second season of the Glimmer Podcast.

The statistics on pregnancy loss are confronting:
– 1 in 4 women experience miscarriage
– 25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage
– 6 babies are stillborn every day in Australia (2.6million per year worldwide)
– 2 babies die in the ‘nenonatal period’ every day in Australia (within the first 28 days of life)

Support for these families needs to be bolstered, and The Glimmer Podcast is paving the way – helping mothers, fathers, grandparents and their extended family and friends feel less alone.

Dr. Ashleigh Smith is available for interview.

Media Contact
Holly Ryan
Glimmer Producer
www.theglimmerproject.com
0418 714 253