Pregnancy and Infant Loss Network

Phone Support Volunteer

This peer support volunteer role is intended for individuals who have personally experienced a pregnancy or infant loss.

Phone Support Volunteers provide one-to-one emotional support by phone to bereaved parents. Drawing from their own lived experience, volunteers are thoughtfully matched with someone seeking support who has experienced a similar type of loss.

Volunteers typically offer up to four phone calls, scheduled at times that work for both them and the person they are supporting. Calls are made using the volunteer’s personal phone and are arranged around their own availability.

Key responsibilities include:

• Being available to support one person at a time

• Providing empathetic listening and emotional presence

• Maintaining healthy boundaries while offering meaningful peer support

• Connecting with their assigned peer for a limited time frame, with flexibility and sensitivity

Loss-Specific Online Group Support Volunteer

This peer support volunteer role is intended for individuals who have personally experienced a pregnancy or infant loss.

Volunteers in this role co-facilitate virtual peer support groups alongside another trained volunteer, offering compassionate space for parents who have experienced similar types of pregnancy or infant loss.

Each group session is 1 hour in length, and volunteers are generally expected to support one group per month. Groups are scheduled Monday to Thursday from 8:00–9:00 p.m. and are hosted on PAIL Network’s licensed and encrypted Zoom accounts, which volunteers access to ensure privacy and security.

Key responsibilities include:

• Co-facilitate or support a virtual group with another trained volunteer and/or staff member
• Help foster a safe, respectful, and inclusive space for participants to share
• Follow a gentle structure for opening, discussion, and closing
• Offering support grounded in shared lived experience

In-Person Mixed Loss Group Support Volunteer

This peer support volunteer role is intended for individuals who have personally experienced a pregnancy or infant loss.

Volunteers in this role provide peer support in a monthly, in-person group setting open to individuals and families who have experienced any type of pregnancy or infant loss. These groups create a compassionate, supportive space for those navigating grief in their local communities.

Groups meet once a month in person, with at least two trained volunteers present at each session. For privacy and emotional safety, group locations are not publicly advertised, and participants must register in advance to attend.

Key responsibilities include:

• Co-facilitating a welcoming, non-judgmental environment

• Offering emotional presence and empathetic listening

• Supporting group participants based on shared lived experience

Family Panelist 

This volunteer role is intended for individuals who have personally experienced a pregnancy or infant loss.

Family Panelists are volunteers who share their personal story of pregnancy or infant loss during a 1-hour panel that takes place as part of a full-day Compassionate Care Workshop for health care providers. By sharing their lived experience, panelists help health care professionals gain deeper insight into how compassionate — or less compassionate — care can significantly impact families during and after loss.

These sessions are part of a broader effort to improve the experiences of future bereaved families by encouraging reflection, empathy, and system-level change.

Key responsibilities include:

• Briefly sharing your story in a way that feels safe and meaningful to you

• Attending a 1-hour virtual or in-person panel with up to 4 other volunteers

• Participating in a brief preparation conversation beforehand to help you feel supported and ready

After the panelists share their stories, the audience of health care providers will have the opportunity to ask general questions. Panelists are never expected to answer questions they are not comfortable with, and support is available throughout the experience.

Commemorative Event Volunteer

This role is open to anyone who feels called to support grieving families, regardless of personal loss experience.

PAIL Network organizes two commemorative events each year to honour and remember babies who have died during pregnancy or infancy. These events are thoughtfully planned by PAIL Network, and volunteers across Ontario are invited to facilitate and promote these important days in their communities.

As an Event Volunteer in a hosting and welcoming role, you will be a warm and approachable presence at an in-person PAIL Network event. These gatherings are not support groups, but rather quiet, private, and intimate opportunities for families to come together and share in their grief with others who understand.

Your role is to help create a compassionate and inclusive atmosphere, ensuring that attendees feel seen, valued, and supported. You may assist with greeting guests, offering directions or guidance, and supporting the smooth flow of the event. Your presence helps set the tone for the day and reflects the care and connection at the heart of PAIL Network’s mission.

Community Awareness 

This role is open to anyone who feels called to support grieving families, regardless of personal loss experience.

Community Awareness Volunteers play an important role in helping PAIL Network reach families who have experienced pregnancy or infant loss by raising awareness about the compassionate support that is available to them at no cost. These volunteers act as local ambassadors, helping share printed resources with other supportive organizations in their communities.

PAIL Network is thankful for our Community Awareness Volunteers who are essential in helping connect grieving families with meaningful support that they may not yet know exists.

Community Awareness  - Local Tabled Event Ambassador

This role is open to anyone who feels called to support grieving families, regardless of personal loss experience.

Community Awareness Volunteers play an important role in helping PAIL Network reach families who have experienced pregnancy or infant loss by raising awareness about the compassionate support that is available to them at no cost. These volunteers act as local ambassadors, representing PAIL Network in their local community at outreach events such as community health fairs or volunteer fairs.

Being present at an informational table at a public event helps connect grieving families with meaningful support that they may not yet know exists.