Losing a young child is painful enough. But a Dartmouth, N.S., woman says a lack of supports for grieving parents is making the situation worse.

Paula Harmon lost a baby 17 weeks into her pregnancy; that child's twin, Grace, survived, but was born extremely premature at 26 weeks, weighing just one pound seven ounces.

Grace died at age three as a result of complications related to being premature.

"Many people, when they discover they're having a child, they start planning. You have the name, their whole life you start thinking about," Harmon told CBC Nova Scotia's Information Morning.

"And when they die very suddenly, all of that's ripped away."

'It makes people uncomfortable'

Harmon, who started an advocacy group called Gardens of Grace to support parents who've experienced infant loss or loss during pregnancy, said such parents face a number of challenges, including not being able to talk about what they're going through "because it makes people uncomfortable."

But she said the loss of government support, including parental leave, immediately after the death of a child can actually compound the grief.

"For example, for fathers or people who take paternity leave ... the minute the child dies, the paternity leave is cut off."

Harmon said after her own loss, she also struggled to access employment insurance.

"I had to go through so many hoops to get it, because bereavement is not an acceptable reason to take ... extended leave."

Government studying supports for parents

In April, Conservative MP Blake Richards tabled a motion in the House of Commons to instruct the standing committee on human resources to study the impact of infant loss and look at what supports would help grieving parents.

That motion has since progressed to the standing committee to be studied. A petition is calling on the government to introduce legislation as soon as the committee delivers its report.

Harmon said the study could ensure government services "don't further traumatize parents in the process of getting, sometimes, what's already theirs."

In the meantime, Harmon said Canada would do well to follow the example of places like the U.K., where there's an infant loss awareness week, starting Tuesday.

For her part, Harmons is organizing an event in Halifax on Oct. 15 to mark the province's second annual Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day.