This Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month, Red Nose Australia is proud to recognise the extraordinary impact of the Phoebe Joan Foundation, whose generosity has funded almost $1 million of critical support for grieving families. 

The Phoebe Joan Project has enabled Red Nose to expand access to bereavement care for families living in regional and remote communities. Families experiencing the devastation of stillbirth including termination for medical reasons (TFMR) after 16 weeks and newborn and baby death, can now receive the same high-quality, compassionate support online as those in major cities; ensuring no family is left behind because of where they live. 

 These services, delivered by Bereavement Support Workers with lived experience of baby loss, provide to those living in rural and remote communities:  

• One-on-one bereavement support in partnership with Red Nose’s Hospital to Home program, walking alongside families from the moment they leave hospital.  

• Ongoing care in the weeks and months that follow, including during subsequent pregnancies after loss.  

• Tailored support for families who often face greater isolation and fewer local services.  

• An additional service to support parents as they navigate the complexities and anxieties of subsequent pregnancies.  

Amy Cooper, CEO of Red Nose Australia, emphasised the importance of this initiative in providing support to remote communities:  

 “Every year, thousands of Australian families experience the heartbreak of stillbirth, neonatal loss or TFMR. For families outside major cities, accessing support can be especially difficult. Thanks to the Phoebe Joan Foundation, we have been able to extend our reach so that no family, no matter where they live, has to face this devastation alone. Importantly, this support is provided by Bereavement Outreach Workers with lived experience of baby loss — people who truly understand what grieving families are going through.”  

Nicky Robinson, of the Phoebe Joan Foundation highlighted the significance of bereavement support to those in remote communities: 

 “Quality bereavement support is key to helping parents grieve and heal. Our Foundation is proud of the Phoebe Joan Project and the almost $1 million that has gone into supporting regional, rural and remote families navigate heartbreak to healing.” 

Bereaved mother, Chloe Field from Hyden, Western Australia shared her experience from someone living in a remote community: 

“We returned home to the Wheatbelt in WA (a remote community) with intense feelings of grief and isolation after losing Samson halfway through the pregnancy. Being able to access bereavement support over the phone, through Red Nose Australia, while being in the comfort of our home on the farm meant so much to us.

We will always be thankful to the Hospital to Home program provided to us after losing Samson, it was such an important part of our healing during a very lonely time.”  

The impact of this partnership is being shared during Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month – a time when families, advocates, and communities come together to break the silence, honour babies gone too soon, and raise awareness of the support needed to help families through loss and beyond.  

Red Nose is calling on the community to join them this October in acknowledging the thousands of little lives lost each year to stillbirth, neonatal loss and TFMR, and to stand in solidarity with families who live with the grief of pregnancy and infant loss.  

 About Hospital to Home  

Hospital to Home is a program operating throughout Australia, providing outreach support within three months of loss to bereaved parents who have experienced the death of a baby or infant through stillbirth (including TFMR), neonatal death or the sudden unexpected death of an infant (SUDI).  

About Red Nose  

Red Nose is Australia’s leading authority on safe sleep, safer pregnancy, and bereavement support for families who experience the devastating death of a baby or child.  

About the Phoebe Joan Foundation 

The Phoebe Joan Foundation was established in memory of Phoebe Joan, with a mission to improve support for grieving families across Australia. Since its inception, the Foundation has donated nearly $1 million to Red Nose to help ensure every family, regardless of where they live, has access to specialist bereavement care.  

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For spokespeople and family interviews, please contact media: Maria Salvador at mariasalvador@rednose.org.au or call 0402 941 493. 

Red Nose has developed a new education series for frontline health care workers, including a video focused on how to better support rural and remote communities. Created through a co-design model in partnership with rural and remote communities, the video was made possible thanks to support from the Federal Government’s Miscarriage and Stillbirth Support Grant.