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 – Sunday 11th October 2026
We are delighted to once again be working in conjunction with Holy Trinity Cathedral to provide our Annual Remembrance Day service, and you are warmly invited to join us.
Holy Trinity Cathedral have been great supporters of Sands, by lighting the cathedral as part of the Sands NZ Light Up Aotearoa campaign each year, and by generously hosting our past 3 Remembrance Day services. Dean Anne Mills is passionate about Sands and supporting bereaved whānau, and has kindly offered to officiate our remembrance service again this year.
This event will provide an opportunity to meet with other bereaved parents and family members, honour our babies, light a candle in their memory, tie a ribbon on our remembrance heart and be together. There will be light refreshments available after the service. Children and families of all belief systems are welcome.
Date: Sunday 11th October 2026
Time: Service starts at 1:30pm
Venue: Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell – in the Bishop Selwyn Chapel
If you would like to come along, please complete the RSVP form below to assist us with catering: https://www.
Global Wave of Light – Thursday 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.
We encourage everybody to join in from the comfort of your own home or to attend one of the following events:
Candle Lighting Ceremony for the Global Wave of Light
Celebrant Kelly Townsend and Pip from Auckland Memorial Park & Cemetery, are proud to host a free Wave of Light Remembrance Ceremony with those who are grieving a baby lost during pregnancy or after birth. This will be a special evening of peace, love and remembrance to honour and remember all loved and longed for babies gone too soon.
Thursday October 15th 2026 – 6:30pm
Settler’s Cottage, Auckland Memorial Park & Cemetery – 2163 East Coast Road, Silverdale, Auckland
The ceremony will start at 6:30pm with candle lighting at 7pm, followed by refreshments.
This is a free event, but an RSVP with numbers is required for catering purposes. RSVP to Kelly 021 331 137.
Sands NZ Online Global Wave of Light Service
Sands NZ are again providing an online service this year, with Sands Canterbury and Canterbury Memorial Gardens as hosts. A link to the service will be posted here in October.
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. We thank the councils, organisations, and businesses who participate to raise awareness of pregnancy and baby loss and acknowledging the whānau in their area who have suffered such a heart-breaking loss. A list of participating landmarks will be posted in the weeks before Baby Loss Awareness Week.
The participating landmarks in 2025 were:
