about

Vicki Culling, PhD
Director and Principal Trainer

 I have a Bachelor of Arts in Education from Otago University, a Master of Arts (Applied) in Social Work (with distinction) from Victoria University of Wellington and a PhD in Women’s Studies from Victoria University of Wellington.

I'm a bereaved parent and have been actively involved in Sands for over twenty years. My first daughter was stillborn at 10 days overdue – an experience which led me to utilise my qualifications and skills to support bereaved parents and families and educate health professionals. I have worked actively at both national and local levels of Sands NZ. I was the first full-time worker for Sands NZ (for one year) when I won a Vodafone World of Difference scholarship in 2006.

I was a founding member of the national Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee (PMMRC) from 2005-2011. I was a member of the International Stillbirth Alliance (ISA) from 2005-2011, as the New Zealand representative on the Parent Advisory Committee and on the ISA Board. I was a member of the NZ Health Quality & Safety Commission’s Consumer Network from 2011-2015, and was the Vice-Chair of the  NZ National Perinatal Pathology Service Clinical Network from 2018 to 2023.

I have completed the internationally recognised Resolve Through Sharing (RTS) Bereavement Training: Perinatal Death training in the United States and the accompanying RTS Bereavement Coordinator Certification. In 2023, I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Supervision through Massey University.

In 2016 I was awarded a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to travel to the USA and the UK to learn about the training provided by support and advocacy organisations to their volunteers and staff.

I have presented at numerous national and international conferences on grief, and perinatal and infant loss, and I currently run support meetings and provide one-to-one support for Sands Wellington-Hutt Valley in a voluntary capacity.

Recent articles featuring Vicki -
Sept 2019 - Stuff NZ - Bereaved parents get new info site but support remains inconsistent link
October 2020 - Capsule NZ - Don't Let it be the Elephant in the Room: How to Support a Friend or Family Member who has Lost a Baby link
October 2020 - Perinatal Anxiety & Depression Aotearoa (PADA) Pop Up Session for Health Professionals (Online webinar) link
June 2021 - The Grief Centre, Auckland, Facebook Live session on Grief and Baby Loss link

associates

some information about the wonderful people I get to work with...

Pania Mitchell

(Ngāruahinerangi ki Taranaki, Ngāti Rakaipaaka ki Nūhaka, Te Aitanga o Hauiti ki Tologa Bay)

Pania is a social worker at Te Korowai Whanau Services in Porirua. She completed her Bachelor in Social Work in 2013. She is a bereaved mother and also a volunteer for Sands, an organisation that supports families after the death of a baby or infant. Pania is a committee member of Sands Wellington-Hutt Valley and was a Sands NZ Board Member from 2013-2015.
Pania and Vicki have presented together at international conferences, they have co-written a chapter for an international textbook on death, culture and grief*,  and have run workshops in Aotearoa NZ.

* Ahakoa he iti, he pounamu: Although Small it is Precious: Death and Grief After Perinatal Death in Aotearoa/New Zealand.  in Cacciatore, J. & De Frain, J (Eds) (2015) The World of Bereavement: Cultural Perspectives on Death in Families.
New York: Springer.

Jane Weekes

In 2012, Jane’s two-year-old triplets, Lillie, Jackson and Willsher were killed in a fire whilst living in the Middle East. Since surviving this unthinkable tragedy she has completed a Bachelors Degree of Counselling, working alongside people experiencing great difficulties in their lives such as trauma, grief and loss, postnatal depression, relationship difficulties and addiction.
Having a background in corporate learning and development also gives Jane a unique ability to provide coaching to professionals who work with families experiencing trauma from both a personal, and research based perspective.
Jane was the guest speaker for the Vicki Culling Speaker Series in 2018.
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Deborah L. Davis PhD

Deborah L. Davis is a developmental psychologist and author based in Denver, Colorado. She is the author of the best-selling book Empty Cradle, Broken Heart (1991; 1996; 2016), which celebrated it’s 20th anniversary in 2017. Deborah has also contributed to a number of other parent books, medical texts, and professional guidelines that inform and support health care practitioners on relationship-centred care, perinatal bereavement care, and medical ethics.
Deborah was the inaugural speaker at the Vicki Culling Speaker Series in May 2017. Her workshops focused on quality bereavement care, and the importance of self-care, specifically dealing with secondary trauma and developing caregiver resilience.
For more information on Deborah and her work, read more about Empty Cradle, Broken Heart.