About Us
Who are we and what do we do?
Pregnancy Assistance Inc. is an independent Catholic organisation initiated by Archbishop Emeritus Barry Hickey in 1996. We provide compassionate care and emotional, practical and informative support to women in need throughout their pregnancy and post birth. We also offer counselling for women and men impacted by pregnancy loss (miscarriage, still birth and abortion). Our services are extended to all people irrespective of religion, race, demographic or personal values.
Our free and confidential services include:
• Pregnancy testing
• Pregnancy care consultation
• Professional counselling
• Post abortion care & grief counselling
• Accommodation assistance
• Practical support – bassinets, baths, nappies & clothes, maternity clothes
• Financial assistance
• Advocacy & support services referral
Who knocks on our door?
Anyone effected by pregnancy who is in need of support! We provide assistance to pregnant women who are distressed due to one or more of the following;
• Unexpected pregnancy
• Abortion concerns
• Financial hardship
• Domestic violence
• Homelessness
• Relationship breakdown
• Mental health
• Grief/loss
• Drug addiction
Our Centre (lovingly nicknamed Elizabeth’s House) in East Perth is open for appointment (telephone or face to face) and allows for pop-ins. Individuals are also welcome to metaphorically ‘knock on our door’ by contacting us via e-mail or Facebook.
What method do we use when talking about abortion?
We utilise Heartbeat International’s L.O.V.E. approach when pregnant women come to us in distress over whether to keep, adopt out or abort their baby. Pregnancy Assistance was founded on Christian values and offers its services as an alternative to abortion. We believe our counselling approach allows the woman to focus on her own needs. We try to awaken a vision in her for a healthy life for herself and her baby. We share information about options she needs to consider to make a life-giving decision. However, under no circumstances do we believe we have the right to impose upon a woman’s decision. We will continue to support and welcome back individuals who have made choices that differ with the personal values of Pregnancy Assistance’s volunteer base.
Who supports us?
God supports the operations of Pregnancy Assistance by providing the right resources at the right time. And you are part of that providence! Pregnancy Assistance operates through the generosity of its supporters and we thank you. Your support gives Hope and Life, so please (if you haven’t already) donate and get involved. We especially thank the Catholic Archdiocese of Perth for providing our rental costs.
Message from the Chair
Dear friends of Pregnancy Assistance,
2023 has given me much to reflect on. In the last month alone, I have welcomed a new niece and nephew to my family. I have also laid to rest one of my aunts who is now buried with one of her children, a baby who was stillborn nearly 40 years ago. These highs and lows, focused on the beginnings and endings of our mortal lives, help us to maintain perspective and return to what matters; our faith, our family, and precious moments with our loved ones. Celebrating mother’s day with my wife and my mother, it was not lost on me that not everyone who experiences the journey of pregnancy and motherhood finds it easy or joy-filled. For some, it is a time of anxiety and stress. A time of crisis and distress. Pregnancy Assistance exists for those times, to be a guide and a helper, to bring hope and life in hard times.
In March we celebrated the Mass for the Unborn Child. The occasion commemorates the Annunciation, the moment Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary. It was a celebration of the Sacredness of all human life, and we remember those babies lost during pregnancy. The loss of an unborn child can be a time of tremendous sadness and grief for the parents, but as a society we are not good at acknowledging this loss. We hope that the simple expression of honouring those babies helps to bring healing to grieving mothers and fathers. Pregnancy Assistance also offers professional counselling and care to anyone suffering from the loss of an unborn child, referrals are always most welcome.
Thomas Seeber Chair
2 Hope and Life
Support Us to Support Others
It is our aim to have the baby room tidy and well stocked. As we rely solely on donations we are always in need of :
Formula Nappies
Toiletries for bub
Toiletries for mum
Wipes
Baby baths
Bassinets
Baby clothes
Maternity Clothes
The mums-to-be benefit so much from all you donate and so we thank you for your generosity!
3 Hope and Life
Help Along the Way
I grew up in a ‘poor’ environment, which means basically we didn’t have our own home, only one parent (my mother) worked, and any money that came into the home went out the same day. We had furniture, clothing and Christmas presents on ‘hire purchase’. I have clear memories of the hire purchase man coming to collect his weekly dues, and us having to hide quietly behind a sofa to pretend we weren’t home. There was no money.
My mother’s childhood (during the war) was even more poverty stricken, but somehow her mother knew things mine didn’t. And that was how to make a penny go as far as a pound. Today many of us have lost that ability, and it’s actually thanks to the fact there has been a concerted effort to deal with poverty, no bad thing.
One thing in common with both my mother and hers - ‘charity’ was out of the question. I don’t even know if such organisations existed (they must have done!), but people didn’t accept ‘charity’. It was an insult to my parents and to theirs. And if they did accept help, it had to be dressed up in a different way so that it wasn’t seen to be such. I find it very interesting how times have changed (for the better in many ways, but not so much in others), and so have attitudes.
Pregnancy Assistance is a stand-alone charity, WA based, which exists to help pregnant mothers who are doing it tough. Thank goodness they don’t suffer from a type of pride that stops them asking for help, because there is so much we can offer them, thanks to our own donors, who provide welcome ‘charity’ to us.
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Having begun with Emeritus Archbishop Hickey helping us, more than 25 years ago, we remain still as that stand alone house waiting to support women who come through our doors, some who are in deep distress.
I wonder how the Holy Family were able to survive. It’s a fact they were poor. It’s told us that Jesus was wrapped in strips of linen. Our Lady would have had some, and I’m absolutely certain, someone somewhere gave the Family help along the way.
And that’s all that ‘charity’ is really. A help along the way. Here at PA, we help many women journeying through their own sorts of crises and hardships, thanks to our donors. We simply would not be here without them. LotteryWest have been incredibly generous to Pregnancy Assistance since 2009. Their kind donations have meant that we can buy food vouchers and create food parcels to give to those of our ladies who are suffering the most so we can at least relieve some of their burden.
The Knights of the Southern Cross have also generously helped us with donations, so that thanks to them we can buy and put together little toilet bags for our mums who are going into hospital to have their babies.
Every cent that comes to us, every kind donation of clothing, nappies, formula or even car seats, goes right back out to ‘our ladies’, through the kindness of monthly donors, yearly donors and one off payments. We try and make Elizabeth’s House (the name of the house we operate from) a home and refuge for all who come through the doors, and everyone works very hard to keep intact the dignity of each woman who is brave enough to come and ask for help.
So thank you to everyone who enables us to be so charitable to those who need it. And the meaning of charity is, after all, love. Perhaps ‘love in action’ describes best what we try and do.
Thank you donors. For everything!
Liz Bergmann Pregnancy Care Consultant
5 Hope and Life
The Home that Joseph and Mary built
Homes are more than buildings. They are places of warmth, gathering and communion with one another. Homes are places of rest, talking and sharing, and ultimately, they are places of love where we are nourished and supported to grow.
Elizabeth’s House at 195 Lord Street East Perth is the home of Pregnancy Assistance. Like every home there can be a buzz of activity and happenings; clients attend counselling appointments, volunteers pack hampers, all experience great joy when a family in returns with their newborn child. There are also moments of silence and reflection; clients grapple with personal difficulty and are gently supported by our staff through these seasons.
Many have experienced the warmth of our home over the years. The familiar sound of a kettle boiling and a cup of tea is sometimes just what is needed to help ease a new client’s nerves.
When I visit Pregnancy Assistance at Elizabeth’s House it is often away from the bustle of the day. I think about the different individuals and families who have visited throughout that day, that week, that month, and the many lives and families who have spent time within the walls of Elizabeth’s house both within Pregnancy Assistance’s history, as well as before.
6 Hope and Life
Like any house there is a living room and sitting room (used for client sessions), a kitchen and bathroom, and another room which is now the office. What sets Pregnancy Assistance’s ‘Elizabeth’s House’ apart and what makes it a home is that Jesus is always present in our chapel room and within the daily work and activities of our ministry.
Elizabeth’s House was built in architectural style of the Federation Bungalow by Joseph E. and Mary Watson. They built the house for their family around 1918/1919. We don’t know a lot about them but they had at least one son, William Edward Watson, and they moved to East Perth from Kanowna in Western Australia’s Goldfields at a time when gold supply in Kanowna was beginning to dry up.
Their decision to build in bricks and mortar instead of wood was sign of hope in their future at a time when the long First World War was ending. East Perth was then an industrial area characterised by factories, tanneries, and other industries. The Watkins were most likely a working family who were able to afford a more substantial bungalow because of wealth accumulated in the goldfields. Tragically their son William Edward did not return home from the war, so would have never seen or lived at the new home. Joseph and Mary lived in the house for four years after William Edward’s passing before house ownership changed to a succession of other families throughout the 1930s and 40s. We can speculate about why the Watson’s did not stay in what was perhaps their forever home, but what is more important is that the home that Joseph and Mary built still stands as an enduring sign of hope for the future.
In June the Board of Pregnancy Assistance will embark on a strategic planning and discernment process to guide the future of our ministry. As we reflect on the history of our ministry, we thank you for your ongoing support and ask for your continued prayers for Pregnancy Assistance. We look forward to sharing the outcomes of this process with you in future newsletter editions.
Carina McPherson Board Secretary
7 Hope and Life
Finding Hope in Hard Times
Pregnancy loss counselling is one of the many free services Pregnancy Assistance provides. Pregnancy Assistance is rooted in love and powered by compassion. We have a heart for all women and men and a passion for life. We have created a safe space in which loss and grief is validated, and unconditional love and support is offered, because everyone deserves to have their loss acknowledged. It is our hope that when people move through their grief they find comfort, strength, and restoration.
In general, grief is a long and personal experience for every individual. It is also erratic and doesn’t follow a straight line.
The death of a baby at any stage of pregnancy can be a very sad, distressing, and overwhelming time. One in four pregnancies end in miscarriage, one in three pregnancies end in abortion, and about one in a hundred pregnancies end in still birth. We must keep in mind that for the mother and father this can be a very emotional experience. The pain is real, so it is important that the grief response and impact associated with miscarriage, still birth and abortion is recognised because for the woman who had a pregnancy loss, it is a very personal loss.
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In the case of an abortion many people don’t recognize that there has been a loss though. Lucy Freed and Penny Salazar, the authors of the book ‘A season to heal’ explain that society allows many rituals to help us grieve the death of our loved ones, but there is still little visible support for helping the mother and father who have had an abortion. However, when your loss is not recognized by society, there is no opportunity to openly mourn. As a result, the woman and her family may deny their immediate pain and they cannot express their feelings surrounding the pregnancy and termination. This inevitably will cause stress, anger, resentment, anxiety, and depression. Fear, guilt, shame and self-punishing behaviours are also some of many experiences people may have.
Though you might stand for a locked door of grief, we are here to support you to slowly open that door . Our friendly staff will walk with love with each person they meet.
Lisette Jas Counsellor
9 Hope and Life
Thank You
Thank you for continually supporting us in achieving our principal objectives – “To provide relief of poverty, suffering, distress, misfortune, destitution, or helplessness for pregnant women of all sections of the public irrespective of race, colour or creed.”
Pregnancy Assistance Inc. solely relies on private donations. We are an ACNC registered charity, and all monetary donations above $2 are fully tax-deductable.
Your generous support gives and changes lives and allows people to taste just how sweet and good hope and life truly is.
Your Donation Makes A Difference
The Archdiocese pays for our rent but for all else we rely entirely on God speaking to your heart!
Pregnancy Assistance Inc. PO Box 8129 Perth BC WA 6849 T: (08) 9328 2926 Donations over $2.00 are tax deductible
Name/Corporation:
Date: Address: Postcode: Email:
By Direct payment: Pregancy Assistance Inc. | Westpac | BSB 036014 | Acc 306953
/ Mastercard Visa
Card Number: Expiry: Name on card: 3 digit verification number: Signature: Date:
I make the following donation to Pregnancy Assistance Inc. of $ once only monthly By cheque/money order: made payable and addressed: Pregnancy Assistance Inc. PO Box 8129 Perth BC WA 6849 Online: www.pregnancyassist.com.au
By including us in your will.
