A parliamentary speech has raised awareness about an organisation which supports women and their families through early pregnancy loss.
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Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams spoke in Parliament on October 19 about the Pink Elephants Support Network.
The organisation provides early intervention support to women and their families through digital-based peer support, educational information and resources.
Mrs Williams said the Pink Elephants Support Network's resources were available for anyone impacted by early pregnancy loss, to support them as they grieved and nurtured them as they healed and usually tried to conceive again.
"Sadly, Port Macquarie Early Pregnancy Assessment Service sees approximately 30 bereaved parents a month for the clinical management of their miscarriage," she said.
"The reason I have chosen to promote the life-changing work of the Pink Elephants Support Network is because October is International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month with hundreds of Australian parents sharing what's hurting them right now - silence.
"October is a time for Australia to break the silence and acknowledge the heartbreak happening too often right now.
"From now until the end of October, families are sharing their silence stories with Red Nose in a bid to get Australia talking about this too-often taboo topic."
Every year, about 110,000 Australians have a miscarriage and 2200 more endure the pain of stillbirth, 600 lose their baby in the first 28 days after birth and many more face the grief of termination for medical reasons.
"Why the name Pink Elephant - it is believed when a mother elephant loses her baby, the other elephants stand in a circle around her, allowing her all the time she needs to grieve and mourn," Mrs Williams said.
More information is available on the Pink Elephants Support Network's website.
Pink Elephants Support Network's co-founder and CEO Samantha Payne said Mrs Williams' parliamentary speech was the next step in awareness.
"We are incredibly grateful," she said.
Mrs Payne said more discussion was needed across the board about early pregnancy loss.
She said the Pink Elephants Support Network was established with a vision to create a circle of support so anyone who experienced early pregnancy loss didn't have to go through it alone.
"We have given women a voice when they have an early pregnancy loss," Mrs Payne said.
"Women want to be supported through this issue."
Mrs Payne said the Pink Elephants Support Network provided a safe space to connect with others going through a similar point in the journey.
The non-profit organisation's mission is to normalise early pregnancy loss worldwide through evidence, empathy and connection.
Mrs Payne stressed the importance of breaking the silence around miscarriage.
She said we needed to move away from minimising the experience.
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