Red Nose recently surveyed over 250 bereaved parents. All families surveyed feel their loss acutely and want to have their child acknowledged. Sadly, 20% indicated that friends and family do not acknowledge their baby or child’s existence. Parents stated that they would feel less alone if family and friends used and remembered their baby’s name.
On Monday 25 March 2024, parents, families and communities around Australia will publicly say the names of their much loved and missed babies and children as part of Red Nose’s Say Their Name Day campaign.
Say Their Name Day is a day where Australia says goodbye to the silence that sadly all too often follows the devastation of a pregnancy loss, stillbirth, the death of a baby or child. Saying a baby or child’s name after they have died, is a powerful act of kindness and acknowledgement that requires no special skills or experience.
This significant day is a day for the whole community to demonstrate that every little life matters and deserves to be celebrated, and that bereaved families deserve all the support we can give.
Every year in Australia, it’s estimated that around 100,000 families go through the trauma of miscarriage and 3,000 more endure the heartbreaking loss of a baby through stillbirth or sudden infant death.
Red Nose is encouraging communities around Australia to help support families who have lost a baby or child. There will be special Say Their Name memorial days held in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth for families and communities to attend.
Say Their Name Day also helps Red Nose raise much-needed funds to ensure that every grieving family has access to the support they need for as long as they need it. Families, friends and communities can also show support by creating online tribute pages, hosting an event or by donating.
Funds raised for Say Their Name Day go towards vital Red Nose services, including our 24/7 Grief and Loss Support Line and research projects like the current bereavement care study. Devastated parents can speak with a counsellor any time: 1300 308 307.
Quotes from Keren Ludski, CEO, Red Nose Australia
“Everyone knows that talking about the death of a baby or child can be an incredibly hard conversation. But many parents tell us they want people to talk about their babies. Their babies existed, they were wanted and much loved and they need to feel them acknowledged.
Say Their Name Day is a way to start opening up this conversation in an accessible way. Talking about the loss of a baby or child really can help an incredibly distressed parent.”
Quotes from parents:
“Say Their Name Day is so important. A lot of people hesitate to say James’s name in fear that it will upset us. But it is more hurtful to have them say nothing at all.
One of our biggest fears, and one we know is a huge fear for other bereaved parents is that one day, our child may be forgotten. Hearing people say James’s name shows that he isn’t just in our thoughts, he’s in others too.”
- Benn Lockyer, Gisborne VIC, father to James (severe and permanent brain injury, September 2017).
“This will be our second Say Their Name Day and it falls close to Archie’s birthday on 21 March. Hearing our son’s name is one of the best gifts to us as bereaved parents, particularly outside of anniversaries and occasions. We wish that our network would bring him up in conversation without any prompting from us.”
- Jasmine, mother to Archie (stillborn, March 2022).
“Our babies that pass seem to be forgotten all too easily, if we as their parents do not continue to mention them or say their name. I don’t ever want that for my son.”
- Carla Eade, NSW, mother to Apollo (stillborn, June 2019).
“Feeling part of a community who understand what we have been through is so meaningful - it literally saved me in the weeks and months following our daughter’s birth. Life has since moved on, but participating in Say Their Name Day gives me a treasured opportunity to reflect, remember and publicly acknowledge that precious little person who changed me so profoundly, and who will forever form part of the fabric of our family.”
- Penelope Steer-Cope, VIC, mother to Hannah (termination for medical reasons, October, 2019).
To participate in Say Their Name Day, visit: www.saytheirname.org.au
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Media contact: Maria Salvador at mariasalvador@rednose.org.au mariasalvador@rednose.org.au or call 0402 941 493.