Harrison’s Little Wings was founded by myself, Melanie McKenzie in 2010 following the birth of my son Harrison. Harrison lived for only 28 hours due to an incurable condition called ‘Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia’. Harrison was diagnosed with this condition at his 20 week Fetal morphology scan. Following this diagnosis my family faced 20 weeks of emotional turmoil of not knowing what would happen to our son.
Since giving birth to my son I am very passionate about quality maternity care for women and their families during their high risk pregnancy and after birth. Many families must make life altering decisions that impact their families and their life. During my own pregnancy I noticed gaps within our health system where women like myself are shuffled through a health system that is unsupported and very isolating.
Harrison’s Little Wings Inc was created to give extra support to these families. One of my passions is that families are given all the information in an empathetic and supportive environment, so they can make decisions for themselves. Most importantly in a way that they have time to digest the information, and time to discuss decisions amongst family and friends.
I am also passionate about advocating for quality and supportive care for women who receive a poor diagnosis I have the privileged to sit on several Queensland state boards and consult on Maternity projects.
Through Harrison’s Little Wings I undertake speaking engagements and participates in educational programs. I hope to create awareness among medical care teams and students about the hardship faced by families who have been diagnosed with congenital abnormality and educate them in dealing with perinatal death.
