Opening Up About Stillbirth

01/08/21 • 33 min

Calm after the storm: Survivorship and other stories, with Amy Syed

Farah Nasser is an award winning journalist who has dedicated her voice to elevating people of colour. Recently, Farah opened up about her personal experience with the stillbirth of her son Hussain, live on Global News. Throughout this episode, Amy and Farah trade stories about what it was like growing up as children of immigrant parents, and their pregnancies with their twins. Farah talks about the moment she found out that one of her twins had passed away in her womb, and the psychological effects it had on her as she continued to carry both twins. Today, Farah discusses her stillbirth openly to raise awareness on the subject and remembers Hussain fondly with her husband and two children.

1.32 - Farah’s childhood

2.51 - How Farah felt growing up as a child of immigrant parents

6.05 - The first time Farah was called a “paki”

8.21 - When Farah got married and decided to have kids

9.46 - Farah finds out she was having twins

10.32 - How Farah’s pregnancy went

11.12 - Farah lost one of her twins

13.26 - Amy’s reflection

14.43 - The pregnancy build up, Farah gave birth and found out how her twin passed away

16.33 - Farah’s labour

18.02 - The importance of talking about stillbirths

19.22 - Group therapy

21.17 - Why Farah and her husband decided to tell her son about his brother

22.54 - What life looks like now for Farah

24.38 - Amy’s reflection on loss

25.31 - What Farah is seeing in working moms today

28.03 - The need for protectionism

29.35 - Farah’s episode dedication

Support the show (https://www.amysyed.ca/calmafterthestormpodcast)

1.32 - Farah’s childhood

2.51 - How Farah felt growing up as a child of immigrant parents

6.05 - The first time Farah was called a “paki”

8.21 - When Farah got married and decided to have kids

9.46 - Farah finds out she was having twins

10.32 - How Farah’s pregnancy went

11.12 - Farah lost one of her twins

13.26 - Amy’s reflection

14.43 - The pregnancy build up, Farah gave birth and found out how her twin passed away

16.33 - Farah’s labour

18.02 - The importance of talking about stillbirths

19.22 - Group therapy

21.17 - Why Farah and her husband decided to tell her son about his brother

22.54 - What life looks like now for Farah

24.38 - Amy’s reflection on loss

25.31 - What Farah is seeing in working moms today

28.03 - The need for protectionism

29.35 - Farah’s episode dedication

Support the show (https://www.amysyed.ca/calmafterthestormpodcast)

Previous Episode

Growing Pains

After Avery Francis was promoted to her dream job, she was sexually assaulted at a work social. Put in a precarious position as part of the company’s HR department, Avery made the difficult decision to come forward and take action. However, although the individual was let go, Avery could not let go of the feeling that she was unsafe at her workplace. Months went by and she slowly became more and more depressed, suppressing her emotions of the incident, rather than dealing with them. After an emotional breakdown, Avery took a leave of absence where she found art therapy and began to move through the trauma that had occured. Upon arrival back to her job, Avery made the decision to leave the company to continue her pathway to thrive. Today, Avery is the founder of Bloom, a full service workplace design consultancy.

1.34 - Avery’s childhood

5.04 - Dropped out of school and had to pay her parents back. Ended up in recruiting.

7.02 - How Avery started her career after university

7.40 - Avery became the Director of Talent at Rangle.io

8.58 - Started to distance herself from her colleagues

9.27 - Avery’s promotion

10.05 - The work social, celebrating her promotion

10.57 - Avery’s sexual assault

16.15 - Avery turns blame inwards, how the assault affected Avery’s sense of self

17.56 - The dinner after the assault

18.27 - What action Avery took afterwards

19.04 - The action Rangle took

20.57 - How Avery felt at work after her assault

21.43 - Avery’s rock bottom

24.08 - Amy’s reflection

25.10 - Tools Avery used to heal

27.52 - Avery’s take on art therapy

29.50 - Sexual assault is often not a one-off situation

30.15 - Why Avery came forward

31.16 - Amy’s second reflection

32.32 - What happened next?

34.10 - How Bloom was born

35.18 - What thriving means to Avery

37.05 - Avery’s advocacy for BLM

42.40 - Who Avery honours on the website

43.00 - Amy’s final reflection

Support the show (https://www.amysyed.ca/calmafterthestormpodcast)

Next Episode

Adoption and Identity in Adulthood

When Leigh Mitchell was three months old, she was given up for adoption. Her adopted parents divorced when she was only a year hold, causing disruption to the stability she felt from an early age. In school, Leigh struggled to find her stability, suffering from learning disabilities and constantly moving from place to place. Eventually after finding her footing in high school, Leigh watched her father buy a resort and suffer from a nervous breakdown that changed the course of his life. As a business owner herself today, Leigh has spent years helping both herself and others heal from similar traumas. In adulthood, Leigh managed to reconnect with her biological parents, putting together estranged pieces of her identity and began counselling to better understand how her traumas had affected her life. Today, Leigh is a thriving entrepreneur as the founder of Women in Business Network, a group of 30K+ women created to support female business owners.

1.41 - Leigh’s adoption and childhood

4.30 - Leigh moves back in with her mom

5.10 - Leigh’s learning disabilities

6.20 - Leigh’s stepfather has a car accident, family moves to Mississauga

7.20 - Leigh’s relationship with her biological parents

8.05 - Leigh starts hanging out with older crowd

9.10 - Leigh’s weekends with her adoptive father

10.14 - Leigh’s adoptive father buys a resort, sees her father have a nervous breakdown

11.52 - How Leigh’s trauma affected her

12.57 - Amy’s reflection on Leigh’s story

13.57 - Leigh goes to college instead of university

14.44 - Leigh gets her driver’s license