Dr Danielle Pollock

Dr Danielle Pollock is a bereaved parent to Sofia. She is a methodologist and research fellow with the Health Evidence Synthesis Recommendations and Impact Research Unit in the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide. Danielle has a previous research background is in psychology and midwifery, specialising in stillbirth and stigma. During her PhD, she developed the Stillbirth Stigma Scale, which measured the prevalence and type of stigma in bereaved parents. Her work highlighted that over half of bereaved mothers faced stigmatising attitudes and beliefs, and these experiences included being discriminated, feelings of contagiousness, isolation and unable to embrace their motherhood identity. Furthermore, Danielle’s work highlighted bereaved parents as advocates in changing the ingrained and fatalistic attitudes towards stillbirth held by clinicians, researchers, and government organisations.

Danielle prides herself on community involvement, such as her role as co-founder of the ASAP (Australian Stillbirth for Awareness and Prevention), and member of the Still Aware Consumer Advisory Board and is actively working towards ensuring bereaved parents are at the centre of research.