9th – 15th October
Baby Loss Awareness Week provides the opportunity for parents and whānau around New Zealand to come together and remember the lives of their babies who have died. We acknowledge the lives and deaths of all babies, no matter what their gestation, length of life or how they died.
It is also a chance to highlight the work done by Sands around New Zealand. The aims for the week are:
- To promote 15th October as International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.
- To promote the Annual Global Wave of Light and other events or services where parents can publicly acknowledge their babies.
- To raise awareness and increase understanding of the impact of baby loss amongst the wider community.
- To invite all Sands parents, whānau and friends to our Annual Remembrance Day and other events. See event details below.
Annual Remembrance Day
Our family friendly event is an opportunity during Baby Loss Awareness week, to meet with other bereaved parents and family members, to honour our babies, tie a ribbon on our remembrance heart and be together on this special day. We will post details of the event (date/time and venue) in September each year. If you would like to be on the mailing list for our next event, please contact us at:
Email: info@sandsauckland.org.nz
After two very disrupted years, we were delighted to be able to hold our Annual Remembrance Day on the 16th October 2022, at the end of Baby Loss Awareness week. It was lovely to see families we had not seen for a while, and also to be able to welcome newly bereaved parents. Thank you to the amazing volunteers from Good Bitches baking who kindly provided us with some yummy treats. This is an important event in our calendar so we were relieved that this could take place.
Global Wave of Light – Saturday 15th October
International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is recognised across the world, where families gather and take part in the Global Wave of Light from home or at organised services. This involves lighting a candle at 7pm to burn for 1 hour in memory of all the babies who lit up our lives for such a short time. We begin the wave of light in Aotearoa, setting off a continuous wave of light and aroha that wraps around the globe.
In previous years a service has been held by the Women’s Health Chaplain in Auckland City Hospital. However, with the current hospital restrictions still in place this was again not possible for 2022. In 2022 we encouraged families to participate from home, or to join the Sands NZ online Global Wave of Light Service via video link.
Light Up Aotearoa
For the past few years, Sands NZ has organised for landmarks across Aotearoa to be lit up in blue, pink and purple for Baby Loss Awareness Week.
