Media & Press Highlights

Our help in Asia mainly involves medication, diagnosis, therapy or assessments. Many women are reluctant to seek professional support as they do not want a medical record. I wanted things to be different,” says the 38-year-old.

Baby Loss Awareness Week. Vernessa Chuah has lost babies multiple times. She now helps others as a Pregnancy Loss and Grief Coach.

CNA 938 Radio: Timestamp 15:30 - 30:08

Both men and women experience grief after the tragedy of baby loss. But do they show it in the same way? We speak to Singapore’s first pregnancy and infant loss coach, Vernessa Chuah, to find out …

Discussion with Dr. Martha Tara Lee is a Relationship Counselor and Clinical Sexologist with a doctorate in human sexuality and master.

There’s still a lot of stigma and shame when it comes to having a miscarriage and/or abortion. “What did I do that caused it? What else can I do? And where do I go from here?”

While pregnancy loss coaches are more commonly found in Western countries like Australia, Vernessa Chuah wasn’t able to find one in Asia. She wanted to become a pregnancy loss coach, to change how women view grief and help them move forward with hope. Every grief journey is different.

I watched the procedure take place and when her heart stopped beating, I was so heartbroken, I felt like my heart stopped together with hers. I cried so badly…Staying busy became my way to cope. Thoughts of ‘I’m not good enough” would seep in when I wasn’t doing something. I packed my activities back-to-back. I was always working and taking up new courses. But the restlessness I had was really a flight response. I constantly wanted to achieve more to prove my sense of worth. Being in stress mode actually made me feel good – cortisol can be addictive.

It’s this baggage that can damage a mother’s mental health, as well as her ability to be “present”. “We cannot support our children and family, if we are running thin and on 10-percent battery all the time,” says Vernessa, a mother of a 3-year-old daughter.

“Without some validation, mothers can feel like they are in a ‘pressure cooker’,” she says, adding that “a judgement-free zone is important”. In her Mother’s Circle group, women practise journalling and verbalising their thoughts to help find their voice.

Hear from Dr Agarwal who has lost two angel babies herself.

A former Singapore National University Hospital (NUH) Head of the Division of Benign Gynecology and Minimally Invasive Surgery.

Dr Agarwal has been running subspecialty infertility clinics for more than 15 years.

She has successfully performing Asia’s first ovarian tissue cryopreservation and reimplantation, resulting in 2 spontaneous pregnancies and livebirth.She is well-known in the medical community for her meticulous care and amiable personality.

She is currently a Senior Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at ACRM.

Despite riding this rollercoaster of emotions, some women and men are reluctant to turn to mental wellness professionals. “The public often assumes the people who seek out these facilities are ‘sick’, but these women are not sick, they want to heal,” says Vernessa, who adds, “Knowing who to go to for support is equally as important as knowing that support is available.”