Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month is observed throughout October, with Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day held on 15 October. For bereaved parents and families, October is a deeply important time to recognise babies lost through miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death and other forms of pregnancy and infant loss.
Why Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month matters
For parents who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of a newborn baby, grief can feel isolating and misunderstood. Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month helps break the silence around baby loss.
It gives families, friends, workplaces, health professionals and the wider community a shared opportunity to speak openly and compassionately about pregnancy loss and infant death.
Miscarriage and early pregnancy loss
Miscarriage is often spoken about quietly, if at all, yet early pregnancy loss can have a lasting emotional impact. Parents may grieve not only the pregnancy, but the hopes, plans and future they had imagined with their baby. Acknowledging miscarriage as a real loss helps bereaved parents feel seen, supported and less alone.
Miscarriage comes in many forms, including:
- Molar pregnancy
- Ectopic pregnancy
- IVF loss
- Chemical pregnancy
- Vanishing twin syndrome
All of these losses affect families in different ways.
Sarah speaks of the importance of Remembrance Days
Stories like Sarah’s show why Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month matters so deeply. Personal experiences of miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death and infant loss give a human voice to awareness campaigns, reminding readers that behind every statistic is a baby who was loved and a family changed forever.
I already had two healthy children when I fell pregnant again. At 13 weeks, I found out my baby wasn’t viable. I was walking around a shopping centre at the time, still carrying my child, with no idea what was coming. The miscarriage that followed almost took my life.
I want women to know how things can go wrong, and to listen to your body. And I want you to know it’s okay to feel what you’re feeling, even if you already have living children.
My grief wasn’t smaller because my house wasn’t empty.
That day gave me a perspective I carry everywhere now. You never know what someone else is going through, so be gentle, and give people the benefit of the doubt.
What helped me most was leaning on other women who understood: grief counselling, the resources on the Red Nose website, and online support groups. Pregnancy loss awareness days give me a place to pause and reflect, alongside my own anniversary.
For others: If you’re carrying something invisible right now, you’re not alone, and what you feel is allowed.
Stillbirth awareness and remembrance
Stillbirth is the death of a baby before birth, and for many families it is a life-changing experience of love, shock and profound grief. Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month provides space to honour babies who were stillborn, to say their names, to share their stories, and to recognise the continuing bond parents have with their child.
Neonatal death and infant loss
Neonatal death, sometimes described as the death of a newborn baby, is another form of infant loss that leaves families navigating grief, trauma and remembrance. Whether a baby lived for minutes, hours, days or weeks, their life matters.
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day on 15 October gives bereaved parents a meaningful moment to pause, reflect and honour their baby’s life.
15th October: Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is held every year on 15 October. It is a day for families and communities to honour babies who have died through miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death and infant and child death.
For bereaved parents, this day can offer a public moment of remembrance, connection and acknowledgement after a grief that is too often carried quietly.
The Wave of Light
The Wave of Light is a global act of remembrance held on 15 October. Families, friends and supporters are invited to light a candle at 7pm local time and leave it burning for at least one hour, creating a continuous wave of light around the world in memory of babies who have died too soon.
For many bereaved parents, lighting a candle is a simple but powerful way to honour their baby, share their love and feel connected to others who understand pregnancy and infant loss.
How to join Red Nose in the Wave of Light:
- Light a candle at 7pm local time on 15 October, wherever you are in the world
- Leave it burning for at least one hour
- Post a photo of your candle and tag @rednosegriefandloss to help create a shared moment of remembrance online
Red Nose Walk to Remember events
During October, Red Nose hosts Walk to Remember events in locations across Australia, inviting bereaved families and communities to come together to remember and honour babies and children who have died.
These walks provide a compassionate space for parents, siblings, extended family, friends and supporters to walk in memory, share stories, find connection and help break the silence around miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death, baby loss and child loss.
How communities can support bereaved parents
One of the most powerful ways to support bereaved parents is to acknowledge their baby and their grief. You can:
- Say the baby’s name if the parents have shared it
- Mark important dates
- Send a message during October
- Take part in a Red Nose Walk to Remember event, or attend a local remembrance service
- Light a candle at 7pm on 15 October for the Wave of Light
Most importantly, listen without trying to minimise, fix or explain the loss.
More than awareness
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month matters because miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death and infant and child death are not rare private sorrows to be carried in silence. They are experiences that deserve recognition, compassionate care and community understanding.
For bereaved parents, awareness is more than advocacy; it is remembrance, validation and love.
If you need support at any time, our 24/7 Grief & Loss Support Line is here for you on 1300 308 307 or visit our Grief & Loss Support Hub.
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