Baby Loss Awareness Week: Honouring Every Story, Holding Space for Every Family
Each year, from 9th to 15th October, people across the UK and around the world come together for Baby Loss Awareness Week – a time to remember babies who have died during pregnancy, at or soon after birth, or in infancy.
It’s a week for remembrance, reflection, and connection. A time to honour every story, raise awareness of the many forms of loss, and support families navigating grief in all its complexity.
In this blog, we’ll explore the many forms of baby loss, how grief can feel after baby loss, ways of supporting yourself and your loved ones, and ways to acknowledge your baby.
Understanding the Many Forms of Baby Loss
Baby loss isn’t one single experience. It can happen in many ways, and each carries its own emotional landscape.
Miscarriage – when a baby dies during pregnancy before 24 weeks
Ectopic pregnancy – when a fertilised egg implants outside the womb, often resulting in a medical emergency
Termination for medical reasons (TFMR) – when a much-wanted pregnancy must end due to serious complications or conditions
Stillbirth – when a baby is born without signs of life after 24 weeks of pregnancy
Neonatal death – when a baby dies in the first 28 days after birth
Infant loss – when a baby dies after the first month of life.
Every one of these experiences represents not only the loss of a baby, but the loss of hopes, dreams, and a future that was imagined with love.
As the team behind The Worst Girl Gang Ever remind us, there is no hierarchy of grief. Every loss matters. Every baby matters.
How Grief Can Feel After Baby Loss
Grief after baby loss is not linear, predictable, or tidy. It’s often described as waves – sometimes gentle, sometimes overwhelming, always changing.
You might experience:
Deep sadness and longing
Guilt or self-blame (“What did I do wrong?”)
Anger – at yourself, your body, the world, or even your healthcare team
Numbness or disbelief
Jealousy or pain when seeing others’ pregnancy or baby news
Anxiety about the future or fear of trying again
You may also find that certain dates, anniversaries, or milestones bring up fresh waves of grief. These moments can appear suddenly and catch you off guard, even years later.
It’s important to remember: this is all part of grief. There’s no “moving on,” but there is learning to live alongside your loss, carrying both love and pain together.
Supporting Someone Going Through Baby Loss
Many people who experience baby loss say the hardest part isn’t always the event itself, but the silence that follows. Friends and family often don’t know what to say, or worry about saying the wrong thing, which often means they end up saying nothing at all.
But silence can be isolating. What grieving parents need most is acknowledgment and compassion.
If you’re supporting someone through baby loss, here are some gentle ways to help:
Acknowledge their loss. Say their baby’s name if they shared it
Listen without fixing. You don’t need the perfect words – your presence is enough
Offer practical help. Meals, childcare, errands – small gestures can mean so much
Avoid clichés. Phrases like “Everything happens for a reason” or “You can try again” can be unintentionally hurtful
Keep checking in. Grief doesn’t end after a few weeks. Keep showing up, even months later.
If You Are Grieving
If you have experienced baby loss, whether recently or years ago, please know that your grief is valid - there is no right or wrong way to feel.
Some people find comfort in marking their baby’s life through rituals or creative acts of remembrance:
🕯️ Lighting a candle during the Wave of Light on 15th October at 7pm
🌸 Planting a tree or flowers in their baby’s memory
💌 Writing letters or journalling about their baby
🧸 Keeping a memory box or photograph
Others find solace in connecting with people who understand; support groups, whether in person or online, can be a lifeline and remind you that you are not alone.
If you’re finding it difficult to cope day to day, it might help to speak with a mental health professional. At Little Steps Psychology Practice, we offer gentle, trauma-informed support for parents navigating pregnancy and baby loss. You don’t have to go through this alone.
Acknowledging Your Baby: The Baby Loss Certificate
For many parents, one of the hardest parts of early pregnancy loss is the lack of official recognition – especially for those who miscarry before 24 weeks, when a birth or death certificate isn’t issued.
In 2024, the UK government introduced a Baby Loss Certificate (also called a Certificate of Pregnancy Loss), available in England for anyone who has experienced a miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or molar pregnancy before 24 weeks.
This certificate is entirely optional, but for many families, it offers a sense of validation and recognition – a way to acknowledge that their baby’s life, however brief, mattered.
You can apply for a certificate through the NHS Baby Loss Certificate service at: www.gov.uk/request-baby-loss-certificate
This simple gesture of recognition can bring comfort, especially for those who have felt their loss was unseen or unspoken.
Gentle Reminders During Baby Loss Awareness Week
This week can stir up powerful emotions, even if your loss happened years ago, or if you’ve never experienced baby loss yourself.
For those who have experienced loss:
💜 It’s okay to feel emotional, numb, or conflicted
💜 You can step away from social media or skip certain events if you need to
💜 You don’t need to “be strong” – it’s okay to just be.
For those who haven’t experienced loss:
💜 This is a good time to learn, to listen, and to support others with compassion
💜 Lighting a candle or joining the Wave of Light can be a simple yet powerful gesture of solidarity.
Finding Support
If you or someone you love has experienced baby loss, there are wonderful organisations that offer emotional and practical support:
🌸 Sands (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society)
www.sands.org.uk
🌸 Tommy’s
www.tommys.org
🌸 The Miscarriage Association
www.miscarriageassociation.org.uk
🌸 The Worst Girl Gang Ever
www.theworstgirlgangever.co.uk
🌸 Petals (The Baby Loss Counselling Charity)
www.petalscharity.org
A Final Thought
Baby Loss Awareness Week is about remembrance, but it’s also about connection and hope.
It’s about acknowledging that behind every statistic is a family – one that loved deeply, grieved deeply, and deserves compassion.
If this week feels heavy, take things gently. Reach out for support, light a candle, talk about your baby, or simply hold them in your heart.