"It can be a daunting experience to grieve all alone."       (Lynne Harford)

Based in the North-Eastern suburbs of Adelaide in South Australia, National Twin Loss Support has certainly made an impact in Australia and overseas.

Initially created under the name of ‘Murraylands Lutheran Stillborn Infant Support Service’, the organisation was established in Murray Bridge in rural South Australia in October 1992, to minimise the gap between rural and city facilities in the area of infant loss. Set up to cater for the needs of families in the Murraylands region of South Australia who suffered any form of pregnancy loss, it eventually   developed into one of the few organisations around the world which could specialise in twin loss and other higher order multiple birth loss issues. All counselling services were provided free of charge, and the Founder, Lynne Harford, worked hard to build links with hospitals, church groups, counsellors, medical professionals, other bereavement groups, as well as some Government agencies.

Besides being a bereaved parent, Lynne Harford is a trained bereavement counsellor, having completed courses with Lutheran Community Care Adelaide, and the Bonnie Babes Foundation  Victoria. Her background of having resided in both a city and rural environment makes her ideally suited to understanding the needs of people, no matter where they live.

In 2002, due to the high demand for twin loss resources, Lynne moved away from personal counselling to concentrate on the educational aspects of bereavement care work. Her partnership with the Apex Club of Murray Bridge resulted in the highly successful ‘Apex Australia Twin Loss Awareness Kit’, which won the 2003 SA Premiers Community Service Encouragement Award.

National Twin Loss Support recognised the need for Australian-specific twin loss resources within Australia. The organisation was instrumental in working on an Australia-wide project to place ‘multiple pregnancy loss awareness kits’ into hospitals with obstetrics units, in an attempt to better educate medical professionals about the unique needs of families who lose a twin/triplet/quadruplet.  With the financial and practical assistance of Apex Clubs throughout Australia, twin loss awareness kits were donated to all maternity hospitals in South Australia and the Northern Territory, as well as emergency service groups, church groups, kindergartens and schools in other states of Australia.

In January 2005 Murraylands Lutheran Stillborn Infant Support Service decided that a name change would better suit the new direction that the organisation was taking, and so the name was altered to ‘Murraylands Twin Loss’. However, in order to allow for further expansion, in November 2008, the name was once again changed; this time to ‘National Twin Loss Support’.  Lynne moved to Adelaide in November 2010 for an employment opportunity, and re-established the charity within the suburbs of Adelaide upon her relocation.

Special note: The counselling industry in Australia has become extremely regulated. This is to  ensure that practitioners are properly qualified, behave in an ethical and professional manner, and adhere to all legislative requirements. At no time did Lynne ever accept payment for her services and at no time did she ever label herself as a ‘Counsellor’. She simply promoted the fact that she had completed Government accredited training.

To expand upon her skills and knowledge, in 2012 Lynne completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Counselling skills with the Australian College of Applied Psychology. Lynne prefers to focus upon the creation of resource material through her books, brochures, articles, website and Facebook pages. Her work continues to be utilised by health care professionals such as doctors, midwives, social workers and counsellors in Australia and overseas.

[Please refer to the directory page for a list of professionally accredited counselling practitioners in Australia and overseas.]

 Resource books such as "The Diary" and “The Survivor” have become valuable extensions of the work being done by National Twin Loss Support and can be purchased online from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Lulu Publishing.

Over the years, National Twin Loss Support has worked hard to improve bereavement care education and has donated various books to local schools, hospitals, libraries and women's information centres. The main aim of the organisation is to break down the massive wall of fear and ignorance surrounding grief, and to replace it with love and understanding.

This organisation highly recognises and recommends the work being done by University of South Australia Senior Lecturer in nursing, Dr Jane Warland PhD, and lists the following books as suggested reading:

 * For children: "Our Baby Died" (click here for more information)

 * For parents in a subsequent pregnancy: "Pregnancy After Loss". (Available online through the Australian Online Bookshop)

 * For Midwives "The midwife and the bereaved family (Available online through Ausmed Publications)

 * Please Click here to visit Dr Warland’s webpage

National Twin Loss Support is registered as a Deductible Gift Recipient by the

Australian Taxation Office.

(ABN: 69 695 149 922)

Copyright © 2016 National Twin Loss Support. All rights reserved.