International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month
October marks International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. As with all awareness campaigns, there is an encouragement to talk and recognise the loss of a baby by miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death.
By talking we're raising awareness and we're raising money, instigating research to reduce the incidence of this loss and find ways to prevent family's distress in the future.
Every year in Australia 110,000 mothers experience miscarriage. More than 2,200 endure a stillbirth and 600 more families lose their babies in the first 28 days of life.
COVID-19 has presented more challenges for families who have been affected by the loss of a baby over the last two years, given the necessary isolation from families and friends who could provide support and comfort.
Because Australia is one of the safest places in the world to have a baby, groups such as Miracle Babies, Red Nose, Sands, and the Stillbirth Foundation are crucially important to support families grieving the loss of their babies.
These groups support and help mothers, fathers and the rest of the family's negotiate not just those first few weeks and months but the subsequent pregnancies.
I appreciate all that these groups do as well as the researchers, doctors, nurses and families who are contributing every day to finding the answers that will help reduce the rates of still births in Australia and around the world.
If this article has raised concerns for you, please seek support from Red Nose 1300 308 307 https://rednosegriefandloss.org.au or Miracle Babies 1300 622 243 https://www.miraclebabies.org.au
Published in the Liverpool Champion on 26 October 2021:
