Priyanka Saha is many things – a pregnancy and baby loss survivor, charity founder, lawyer, and believer in hope. Having lived through a traumatic first pregnancy loss and then the death of her first born, Lily at 10 months old, Priyanka set up the Lily Calvert Fund (LCF). LCF raises awareness of grief and loss and runs a national music therapy program providing musical care kits to paediatric palliative care programs Australia wide. Priyanka shares her thoughts on parenting after loss and post traumatic growth to her audience of over 20,000 on Instagram. She is a Very Special Kids Hospice ambassador, mother to Lily’s little brother, Jasper, and often appears in media - providing commentary on baby loss and finding hope.
Priyanka shares about Lily's short, but incredible life with The Glimmer Podcast. Priyanka tells Dr Ashleigh Smith that Lily brought her family and friends together in such a beautiful way. Priyanka believes there is space for all grief, be it miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death, baby or child loss, and that the compassion as a fellow loss mother just grows. Priyanka talks about her son Jasper - both the pregnancy (including how important prenatal testing was to reassure her and get her through), as well as bringing up Jasper now, and fostering the beautiful bond between two siblings who never met. She also talks about her marriage and how together they survived the most difficult days, despite the odds. Priyanka gives practical advice as to how to guide family and friends to provide the support that you need. Priyanka says that she is grateful for the person that she is now, while it doesn't make the loss ok, she is a better person for it, and offers a glimmer of hope to listeners.
Links:
Instagram: @thelilycalvertfund
Website: https://lilycalvert.com/
https://www.theglimmerproject.com/
https://bluehearts.com.au/the-cause.html
https://stillbirthfoundation.org.au/
Special thank you to Holly Ryan (Blue Hearts) who is assisting in the production of this season of The Glimmer Podcast.
Thank you to Blue Hearts and the Stillbirth Foundation for supporting and funding this season of the podcast