Little Life, Big Loss: 23 mothers share their stories of love and loss

Rochelle is a bereaved mother, advocate, podcast host and the founder of Little Life Big Loss. Her daughter, Milli, died at just six days old. Through the Little Life Big Loss podcast and now this book, Rochelle creates spaces where parents can speak openly about grief, love, motherhood and the babies who changed their lives forever.

Rochelle started the podcast in 2023, soon after Milli died. In January 2026, she had the idea to turn it into a book. Applications are now open for a second series, featuring a mix of families, and a third series, the Dads Edition.

I felt extremely alone at the time. I felt like I was the only person on earth who had lost a baby … This has been such a wild journey, not only for my own self and through the loss of my daughter and the healing that’s taking place through being able to share her story, but also for all of the beautiful women who came forward to share their story in this book.

Rochelle Evrard, Milli’s mum and founder of Little Life Big Loss

Our beautiful boys Rishaan and Anirudh may have only been with us for a short time, but they have given us a lifetime of love. I wanted to share our story not only to honour our beautiful boys — Rishaan, who would have been 8 this year, and Anirudh, 7 — but also in the hope that it can help another family.

I wanted to raise awareness, advocate and bring about hope — that by speaking openly about our experience, we might help another family ask questions sooner, access genetic testing or carrier screening, particularly when a cause remains unexplained. If sharing some of our hardest moments encourages another parent to seek information they may not otherwise have been offered, then our story can create something meaningful from our loss of two precious boys.

Swaathi Ramkumar, Rishaan and Anirudh’s mum

Little Life, Big Loss has given me the opportunity to place our beautiful boys, Rishaan and Anirudh’s story alongside the heartbreaking stories of 22 mothers who understand that love doesn’t end with loss. Our children were here, they were loved, and their lives matter.

There is something deeply comforting about knowing that our boys’ story is now etched in the pages of a book — a permanent piece of their legacy that will outlive us, carrying their names, their lives and our love for them into the future. 🤍

Swaathi Ramkumar, Rishaan and Anirudh’s mum

I wanted to share Felix’s story because although his life was incredibly short, the impact he had on mine will last forever.

Being part of the book Little Life Big Loss: Where Love Continues Beyond The Heartbeat has given me a way to honour him, keep his memory alive and raise awareness around pregnancy and infant loss, genetic conditions and the importance of genetic testing and late-term ultrasounds.

Felix was here for just 3 hours and 12 minutes, but those hours meant everything to us. I hope sharing our story helps other families feel less alone and reminds people that no matter how short a baby’s life may be, their life matters, their story deserves to be told and their name deserves to be spoken.

Alyssa Mitchell, Felix’s mum

Writing my chapter about Felix was incredibly difficult and vulnerable. Putting such deep emotions and experiences that I rarely spoke about into words wasn’t easy, but knowing his story and my journey may help someone navigating baby loss and feel a little less alone, made it all worthwhile.

Alyssa Mitchell, Felix’s mum

We were so unlucky in the worst way to lose our baby, but in the same breath we were the absolute luckiest. My partner Hugo and I were so lucky to have Rigby, to meet him, to hold him and to have such a gentle and beautiful birth experience. Aside from Rigby’s structural abnormality, nothing went wrong, there was no one to blame or be mad at, it just was what it was. And although a big part of it was heartbreakingly sad, a lot of it was beautiful and all of it was love.

I felt so passionate about writing Rigby’s story in Little Life Big Loss and sharing our experience because I am so thankful for everything that went right, because I know the loss of a baby doesn’t always happen this way. I wanted to highlight the support we received and share how our little boy continues to be loved every day. I hope that anyone who connects with Rigby’s chapter feels loved and held by the right people and if they don’t, I hope it encourages them to seek support because life is so much better when you’re surrounded by people who want to know you, your story and your baby.

Liz Schleicher, Rigby’s mum

Liz and Hugo came to their first Red Nose peer support group the month after Rigby was born, and kept coming every week for a whole year. Red Nose supported them through pregnancy after loss, and today they join the Walk to Remember every year, take part in Say Their Name Day and fundraise on Red Nose Day. Liz also sends love to fellow loss parents and grandparents as a volunteer card writer through Heart Strings, and she and Swaathi teamed up to donate copies of Little Life, Big Loss to our Perth office.

That group, with the wonderful facilitators was the glue that held all my broken pieces and helped me put myself back together … Nearly every good and helpful thing that happened during our heaviest period of grief was because of Red Nose and I will always be so thankful for that.

Liz Schleicher, Rigby’s mum

Sharing Maddie’s light with the world is one of the promises I made to her when she died. Contributing to this book is my way of wrapping my arms around anyone walking this path and letting them know they’re not alone, their baby matters and they deserve to be remembered.

Even though Maddie’s life was little, her impact was not. Baby loss can make you feel like you’re carrying a whole world inside you that no one else can see. A world of hopes, dreams, milestones, imagined futures and all of the love that came the moment a little life began.

Maddie was here, she is so loved, she is a part of me and she will never be forgotten.

Emma Xuereb, Maddie’s mum

My chapter in [Little Life, Big Loss] are words I never thought I’d write, because this is a story I never thought I would have. But it is now part of me, part of my family and part of the way I love and remember Maddie.

Sharing my story has been so vulnerable, but my hope is that it reaches someone who needs to feel less alone. Someone who has wondered if anyone else understands and who needs to know their baby, their love and their story matters too.

Emma Xuereb, Maddie’s mum

Emma and her partner Aaron first received support through our Hospital to Home program in the early days, and Emma still speaks with her Red Nose counsellor each month. They’ve joined online support groups, fundraised for Red Nose in August 2025, and made new connections and friends at the Walk to Remember and our remembrance services. Emma also read a poem she wrote for Maddie at our Say Their Name Day service.

Nerida is a contributing author and our Community Engagement Coordinator in NSW. Her chapter focuses on pregnancy after loss and her daughter, Mia.

Mia’s life was brief, but the impact she has had on mine continues to shape everything I do. I share her story in the hope that other bereaved parents might see parts of their own experience reflected in mine, feel understood and most importantly, feel less alone. Connection was something that helped me through the darkest days. I hope this story can offer that same sense of connection to someone else.

No matter how much time passes, your baby will always be part of your family. My work with Red Nose was inspired by Mia and by the experience of losing her. Being able to support families through a loss like ours is a privilege, it is one of the ways I continue to carry her with me and how her life continues to make a difference. The work I do today is because of her.

Nerida Rosenthal, Mia’s mum

Judy’s daughter Méabh was stillborn at 38 weeks, and her rainbow daughter, Mila, was born after. In her chapter, Judy writes about Sara Grant, Red Nose’s National Hospital to Home Manager, who walked alongside her through both.

Sara Grant has been an incredibly important part of my journey through grief and motherhood after loss.

When I lost Méabh, she gave me a safe space to process a grief I never imagined I would have to experience. She listened to me for hours, without judgement, and helped me make sense of the sadness, fear, anger and everything in between.

When I became pregnant with Mila shortly after, Sara continued walking alongside me. This was a completely different journey, but one filled with its own stress, anxiety and uncertainty. She helped me navigate those emotions, shared resources when I needed them, and reminded me that I didn’t have to carry everything alone.

Sara never tried to take away my grief or my fears. She simply walked beside me through both journeys, one conversation at a time.

I’m so grateful that Sara became part of both Méabh’s story and Mila’s story. I’ve written about her and the impact she had on my journey in my chapter of Little Life Big Loss — because some people become such an important part of your story that they deserve to be remembered in it, too.

Judy Fox, Méabh’s mum

I wanted to share my story so that the loss families that came before me and the ones yet to come, don’t feel alone. Although the worst ‘club’ to be a part of, we are all here to hold one another and witness our grief.

Sharing my story, sharing my daughter’s name keeps her present. And contributing to Little Life, Big Loss means that her story will continue on, her name will be said aloud and one day, her baby sister can read about her. I want both of my girls to be proud of their Mama, knowing that I always held my head high, spoke about both of them, so openly with love and pride.

Roza Arkam-Lovasi, Áva’s mum

Jess’s son Josiah was born prematurely and lived for seven weeks.

After Josiah died, I made a promise that I would always speak his name and honour his life by how I live mine. Sharing his story in Little Life, Big Loss – Where Love Continues Beyond the Heartbeat is one way I get to keep that promise. It is also a way for me to hopefully be a part of helping other parents feel a little less alone in their own grief.

I wanted to share Josiah’s story because his life matters. He may have only been here for seven weeks, but those seven weeks were a whole lifetime of loving him, knowing him, and being his Mum and now I get to share him.

Jess Codrington, Josiah’s mum

There is something incredibly powerful about seeing Josiah’s name and story in a book alongside the stories of other babies who are deeply loved and will always be remembered. Little Life, Big Loss gives space to lives that were short, but never insignificant.

This book means that Josiah’s story gets to travel beyond the walls of the NICU and beyond the people who knew him. Other people get to know that he existed. As his Mum, that means more than I can really put into words.

Jess Codrington, Josiah’s mum

Ashlee’s daughter, Milo, died in utero at 37 weeks. Ashlee shares Milo’s story to encourage expecting mothers to trust their instincts and speak up for themselves and their babies.

In time, I realised that perhaps the only way I could give meaning to Milo’s brief but profound life was to use her story to raise awareness and empower expecting mothers to trust their instincts, speak up, and advocate for themselves and their babies.

By sharing Milo’s story, I hope I can reach even one mother who may recognise something isn’t right and feel confident enough to keep asking questions or demand that her concerns are taken seriously.

And if sharing Milo’s story helps save even one life, then I will know that her life, however brief, made a difference, and that her death was not in vain.

Ashlee Lanzini, Milo’s mum