The journey through infertility, pregnancy and infant loss can be an isolating experience – and it doesn’t have to be that way. This journey is difficult and it is not one that you need to walk alone. You can talk one on one with a trained peer support volunteers.
Peer Mentor
You can talk 1:1 with a trained peer mentor volunteer who has walked a similar path to your own. During this complex time, your peer mentor can stand with you as you face the next steps… Together.
Our peer mentor sessions can be done remotely as well as in-person. Your volunteer peer mentor will address your concerns, answer your questions, and show you that you are truly not alone.
If you are interested, apply to be in our program using the button below and we will begin the process of matching you with a suitable mentor.
We currently have available Mentors for a match for the lived experience of early loss and TFMR.
For other lived experiences including late loss, fertility challenges, stillbirth, and neonatal loss we have a waitlist of 3-6 months. Applications are open for all experiences and for those placed on the waitlist we will endeavor to match you as soon as one of our current volunteers with a similar journey becomes available.
Email Support
You might be feeling lost. Alone. Angry. You are worthy of having a soft place for your feelings to land. A place where you are validated. A place where people can truly relate. A place where your heart can rest. You are worthy of a place that sees all of you.
You can connect via email to a trained Peer Support Worker with lived experience and they will reply during business hours. You are not alone.
Please note: Our peer volunteers are not to be used in replacement of formal professional support. Peer mentors and Peer Support Workers have been trained to offer peer level support only.
Who are these options best suited for?
- Individuals who have experiences: fertility challenges, miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal loss, termination for medical reasons, abortion, SIDS, missed adoption, loss through surrogacy
- Individuals at every stage of loss: initial grief, trying to conceive, pregnant after loss, parenting after loss
- Individuals of all: ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, and faiths
- Anyone impacted by loss: birthing person, parents, partners, grandparents, support people
Need Help?
Please contact Nova McGillivray below:
Nova McGillivray
Senior Specialist, Mental Health
Nova McGillivray was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, she loves dogs, hiking and Starbucks. She has been a peer facilitator since 2013, is a Sistership Circle level one facilitator with Brain Story certification as well as Nonviolent Crisis Intervention trained. She came to PILSC as a helpline volunteer and then did her Canadian Mental Health Association Peer Support School practicum with PILSC which lead to becoming a PILSC facilitator and then moved into the Peer Coordinator role. She is happy to be using her knowledge and gifts to contribute and to support people.
To contact Nova, email her at nova@pilsc.org
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no cost for our peer mentoring or helpline programs. If you are financially able and feel the program is a benefit to you, we always welcome donations, though this is not an obligation or expectation. The support you receive will not be impacted whether you donate or not.
Our mentors and peer support workers are all trained in peer support and have lived experience in/with fertility challenges, pregnancy & infant loss who have navigated the journey through loss. They are not counsellors or mental health professionals.
You will be matched to a peer with similar lived experience. Once matched, you and your mentor will commit to a mentor/mentee relationship for a maximum of 3 months (option to renew for another 3 months) with biweekly mentor sessions. Sessions are typically about 1-1.5hours. Your peer mentor is there to support you and will not come with any agenda. This is your session and your mentor will walk alongside you.
We acknowledge that the connection between mentor and mentee may not always fit. Differences with others doesn’t mean either party is “bad” or at fault. If this happens the Mentor will not take it personally. Contact the 1:1 Peer Mentor Specialist for an alternate Mentor. Our goal is to connect you to a peer that resonates with you.
All sessions take place either remote or in-person.
What is said during the mentorship session will not be shared outside of the relationship. Limits to confidentiality include if you are at risk for self harm or harm to others.
We are dedicated to supporting individuals of all faiths, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and gender identities. In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.