Early pregnancy loss certificates
An Early pregnancy loss certificate acknowledges the loss of a pregnancy before 20 weeks' gestation.
An early pregnancy loss is not officially registered as a birth or a death.
While these certificates are not a legal document, they recognise and honour a pregnancy lost before 20 weeks.
Support for grief and loss is available through your usual health care professional and organisations such as:
Eligibility
The certificates are available to all ACT families who have experienced an early pregnancy loss. The loss could be recent or many decades ago.
You do not need to provide medical evidence that you have experienced a pregnancy loss.
To apply for a certificate, your loss must have:
- taken place in the ACT
- occurred before 20 weeks' gestation.
If your loss took place after 20 weeks, you will need to register the birth.
Apply for a certificate
To apply, use the Recognition of early pregnancy loss form.
You will be asked to declare that your loss took place in the ACT and occurred before 20 weeks.
The application form has 4 certificate designs to choose from.
The certificate will be delivered by post to your nominated address. Requests are usually processed within 15 business days, not including Australia Post delivery times.
Early pregnancy loss certificates are free.
Apply for an early pregnancy loss certificate
Certificate designs
The application form gives you 4 certificate designs to choose from.
Indigenous designs - blue and purple
Kayannie Denigan is an Australian Aboriginal artist, who lives and works in Canberra on Ngunnawal Country.
Luritja by birth, Kayannie is connected to Iltjitjari and Unturu in Central Australia through her grandmother and great-grandmother respectively.
Kayannie works predominantly in acrylic on canvas and is inspired by a painting style that was passed down from her grandmothers – the iconic dots and symbols of Central Desert art. She combines this ancient form of storytelling with the colours and stories from the lands and cultures of her childhood home in Cape York.
‘Babarr represents the enduring connection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to their families and country. Babarr means little baby in the Guugu Yimithirr language of Cape York. My artwork represents children’s connections to ancestors, country and important places used to meet, trade and gather food. A seaweed crop represents the continuing connection of Torres Strait Islander people to the ocean and the use of seaweed for healing and ceremonial purposes across Australia.’
ACT flora and fauna - flowers
Artist Rebecca Tregurtha has a passion for nature. Her love of the environment and special interest in Australian native plants was kindled in her teens on bushwalks around NSW and the ACT.
For this very special project, Rebecca chose plants from the ACT as her subject, including the ACT’s floral emblem, the Royal Bluebell.
‘I hope this connection to place might bring some comfort at a very sad time. I created the design with pen and watercolour in my graphic style which plays with hand-drawn line quality. The artwork is striking and soft at the same time.’
ACT flora and fauna - butterflies
Till Heike is a Western Australian artist and writer. She is Community Engagement Manager for Red Nose Australia and was previously WA’s state coordinator for SANDS (miscarriage, stillbirth and newborn death support). She has been involved in pregnancy loss, stillbirth and infant death support since her daughter’s death in 2014. She is a Consumer Advisory Board member for Still Aware (stillbirth prevention) and sits on the Grief and Loss Advisory Council at King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women.
‘The overall feel I wanted to create is one of a gentle, contemporary and warm piece of art for our bereaved families.
‘I understand how treasured it will be to receive these certificates and honour the life of their babies. Families may display their baby's certificates as a form of bonding and connection to their baby and their baby's memory. With the work I do, I understand how powerful that can be for healthy grieving.
‘For the design, I chose a selection of beautiful Australian native plants that are seen in the ACT: Grevillea, Eucalypt, and Hakea. I also introduced freehand-drawn butterflies as a beautiful and symbolic element. I wanted to create a gentle, natural piece with meaning for this community of parents, knowing that I am creating a border for the central focus of the details of the precious babies.
‘When I look at this design with the eyes of a bereaved parent myself, I feel the butterflies, with their beauty, grace and delicate shapes and form, reflect the feeling of loving your child even when you cannot hold them - the idea of beauty continuing to reside as memory.
‘Mostly I wanted a parent to look at this artwork, that honours their child, and feel a reverberation of love and connection in the deep sorrow of their loss. I hope this piece helps to provide a warm and loving connection to their baby.’
