Melissa Malivoire

Melissa Malivoire is a bereaved mother, consumer advocate and research partner with lived experience of extreme prematurity, neonatal death, paediatric palliative care and bereavement. 

In 2022, Melissa’s son Leo was born at 26 weeks’ gestation and died at nine days old. Following Leo’s death, Melissa and her husband spent nine days together at Hummingbird House, Queensland’s children’s hospice, where they were supported to care for Leo, create lasting memories and spend precious time together as a family. This experience shaped her understanding of the profound impact compassionate communication, memory making, after-death care and family-centred palliative care can have during and after the death of a child. 

Melissa is passionate about increasing awareness and understanding of paediatric palliative care and bereavement support. She believes every family should have the opportunity to spend meaningful time with their baby or child, create memories without pressure or time constraints, and access compassionate, individualised support before and after a death. She is committed to reducing stigma around death, dying and grief, and helping families understand the choices and support available to them. 

Professionally, Melissa works in national consumer engagement and perinatal research, partnering with parents, clinicians and researchers to strengthen the role of lived experience in research, policy and service improvement. Through her work in consumer representation, national engagement and consumer-led research design, she advocates for meaningful partnership with families whose lives have been shaped by loss. 

Melissa hopes to contribute to a future where no family feels abandoned following the death of a baby or child, and where every family is offered compassionate, coordinated and ongoing support as they learn to live with grief. 

If you would like to engage Melissa or another consumer representative for your project, please complete an application form and return to projects@palliativecare.org.au or call 02 6232 0700.