A Hawke’s Bay-born woman, now living in Southland, has turned her own heartbreak into a powerful movement — creating care resources and comfort items that are now reshaping how baby loss is supported in the region.

After losing her baby at 30 weeks’ gestation, Jade Duley-Priest, Founder of Still Mums Charitable Trust, received compassionate support in Hawkes Bay — something she quickly realised was missing when she later moved to Southland. Wanting other families here to feel just as held and cared for in their grief, she began creating the very things she and others wished were available locally.

What started as a heartfelt project has grown into a voluntary initiative that’s made a lasting impact on the way families are supported at Southland Hospital, and beyond.

Her work includes:

• A comprehensive printed guide for parents, outlining what to expect when they learn their baby has passed, what happens after leaving the hospital, and a checklist of what needs to be done
• A support flyer for family and friends on how to care for their grieving loved ones
• Flax cocoons with hand-sewn mattresses for pēpi
• Thoughtfully curated self-care packages including comfort items— sent nationwide across Aotearoa
• An information pack featuring support services such as the Loss and Grief Centre, Bellyful, local funeral homes, Health Down South free postpartum pelvic floor checks, and more
• A peer support group in Southland for bereaved parents, focused on gentle connection through shared activities rather than pressure to share stories

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The initiative has been supported by a few generous grants, which have helped make parts of the project possible, such as community events. But at its core, this remains a lived-experience-led effort — built from the ground up by someone who simply saw what was missing and decided to change it. Her resources are now being used by staff at Southland Hospital as part of their baby loss support process.

“Families were going home with almost nothing — it felt like their pain wasn’t being acknowledged. I wanted to change that,” she says.

What sets this initiative apart is that it’s built entirely through lived experience — informed by real conversations with other grieving parents, and thoughtfully designed to meet them in their pain with compassion and practical support.

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