About Us
In Her Circle is a registered nonprofit organization closing gaps in perinatal mental health care — mobilizing communities through fundraising, storytelling and advocacy.
The organization is founded by people close to Jenna Dorman, grounded in our lived experience. We are mothers, aunties, doulas, creatives, community organizers and friends. We feel great responsibility to the work, so that no family has to face what Jenna’s did again.
OUR ORIGINS
In late 2024, Jenna Dorman, a Vancouver mother of two, died by suicide following a severe postpartum mental illness. Despite relentless advocacy from her family and community, the healthcare system was not equipped to provide the level of care she needed during an acute crisis.
Jenna was as loyal as she was ambitious, as successful as she was playful. Her fierce devotion to the people in her life drew a deep love from her family and large, close-knit community.
Her story is not unique. Suicide is a leading cause of death for mothers in the first year postpartum.
If a family with access, education, and an entire community advocating on their behalf could not secure care, it raises a critical question: who can?
In Her Circle is inspired by the concentric circles of care that formed around Jenna in her illness, and calls on all of us to step into the circle of care surrounding mothers and families.
To learn more about Jenna’s postpartum story, watch For Jenna – a short film about love and community, and the limits of both against a system not built to hold mothers and babies together.
Media Coverage
We are grateful for the coverage perinatal mental health is receiving and are open to exploring more ways to share Jenna’s story to close gaps in postpartum mental health care. Our voices are a powerful tool.
Please reach out with any press coverage requests: info@inhercircle.ca
All major BC parties commit to Canada’s first Perinatal Mental Health Unit
Oct 21, 2026
BC NDP, Conservatives and Greens have now pledged operating funding for a unit that will keep mothers and babies together in a mental health crisis. In Her Circle will work to see that the promise is kept.
‘Jenna died on a wait-list’: Loved ones push for specialized postpartum psych care in B.C.
Oct 15, 2026
It would be Canada’s first in-patient perinatal unit where mothers experiencing severe mental illness during pregnancy or after childbirth could receive round-the-clock psychiatric care while staying with their babies
David Eby promises perinatal mental health unit at B.C. Women’s Hospital
Oct 14, 2026
Critics argue the commitment to perinatal mental health unit is long overdue.
A Canadian first for mothers and babies: David Eby commits to perinatal mental health unit in BCDavid Eby promises perinatal mental health unit at B.C. Women’s Hospital
Oct 13, 2026
In Her Circle applauds the first party leader to back care that will save lives and set a model for the rest of the country.
‘In Her Circle’ movement hopes to close gaps in postpartum mental health care
May 11, 2026
Kiri Bird and Jay Hoggard speak to CBC Early Edition’s Amy Bell, to tell the story of Jenna Dorman, who died by postpartum suicide in late 2024 after the birth of her second child.
Mother’s Death Inspires Fundraiser for Postpartum Mental Health Care
May 28, 2026
Jenna Dorman’s friends say new parents are suffering due to gaps in supports. They’re working to change that.
Family of mother who died by suicide calls for better supports for postpartum depression
Jenna Dorman, 42, died in 2024 after struggling with severe postpartum depression. Her family is now sharing her story to push the B.C. government for better mental health supports for mothers in crisis, something they say has been lacking for years.
Vancouver mom’s suicide prompts call for inpatient mental health treatment for new mothers and babies
“Jenna’s death was preventable,” said Bird. “If there had been a mother and baby unit where she could have gone and healed for an extended period of time, supervised and supported and felt loved, I believe she would be alive today.”
Raising awareness, building community, and funding access to postpartum mental health care.