In this episode, Sam chats with the founder and executive director of the Early Pregnancy Loss Coalition (EPLC), Isy Oderberg who shares her personal journey through seven pregnancy losses which ultimately inspired her to write a book.

A key focus of the discussion is the central role of Reproductive Justice, a concept that combines reproductive health with social justice. Isy stresses that the work must embed diversity and be driven by centring marginalized people who experience compounded layers of disadvantage (intersectional disadvantage).

The conversation highlights that quality care extends beyond medical treatment and requires health providers and support services to recognize and allow for the trauma experienced by marginalized groups.

Despite the historical oversight of the sector, Sam and Isy agree on their immense hope due to recent successes and ongoing momentum:

• Policy Wins: The sector successfully advocated for and achieved the first ever dedicated miscarriage funding from the Australian government.
• Clinical Guidelines: They worked with RANZCOG to support the development and release of clinical guidelines for early pregnancy loss, a massive win that provides doctors with a standard for care.
• Future Research: The ultimate goal is to get medical research funded to identify new treatable factors in the recurrent miscarriage space, giving people more options and reducing the overall number of losses.

Isy concludes that the miscarriage sector acts as a "canary in the coal mine," offering broad lessons for improving how society talks about grief and addressing medical misogyny more generally. She believes the 1 in 4 statistic is a downplay and that every person will be touched by loss in some way.

EARLY PREGNANCY LOSS SUPPORT
If you or someone you know has experienced miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, please know you are not alone.

• For crisis support, please call Lifeline - 13 11 14.
• Access all our support
• Connect through Live Chat with Peer Support
• Join Online Communities
• Call out Pregnancy Loss helpline delivered by PANDA
• Join the Circle of support
• Follow @pinkelephantssupport on Instagram.

STACEY JUNE LEWIS
You can follow our host Stacey on her personal Instagram account where she shares some of her lived experience.

In this episode, host Stacey welcomes Lauren Sun, Pink Elephants' Peer Support Coordinator, to discuss the profound impact of peer support and the crucial need for caring for the carers.

Lauren openly shares her personal history of loss, which includes three miscarriages, an ectopic pregnancy that required emergency surgery, and a vanishing twin that resulted in the birth of her son, Marcus. She notes that her losses were often so rushed and medical—especially the ectopic pregnancy and the twin loss—that she didn't have time to fully process the grief at the moment, only to have it resurface years later.

Lauren found her way to Pink Elephants five years after her last loss, feeling she had reached a point of healing where she could give back. She describes the first peer support chat as "simple" and "empowering," realizing the profound therapeutic power of acknowledgement and validation—the client only wanted to be heard and told, "I'm really sorry."

Lauren defines peer support as being there to simply hear you and validate your feelings, offering a message of hope: "It will be okay." It differs from clinical support by avoiding jargon and advice; the core service is listening and sitting with you in your pain.

She notes that peer support often acts as a frontline service, seeing people in moments of acute emotional pain, whether they are straight out of the hospital, experiencing an anniversary, or struggling with complicated emotions like being both sad for themselves and happy for a pregnant friend.

As the Peer Support Coordinator, Lauren also manages a team of lived-experience volunteers, a role she takes on by "caring for the carers." She conducts check-ins, covers shifts, and facilitates a supportive WhatsApp group, ensuring the team's capacity to continue their demanding frontline work. She believes this support system gives her own losses meaning.

Lauren shares that her relationship with grief has evolved from fear and avoidance to acceptance. She now sees grief as a normal part of life, often fitting in her pocket, but occasionally growing "huge." Her advice for dealing with a sudden onset of intense pain years after a loss is to "let it roll over you." Allow the sadness and feel the feelings, because pushing it away will only make it pop up at worse times.

EARLY PREGNANCY LOSS SUPPORT
If you or someone you know has experienced miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, please know you are not alone.

• For crisis support, please call Lifeline - 13 11 14.
• Access all our support
• Connect through Live Chat with Peer Support
• Join Online Communities
• Call out Pregnancy Loss helpline delivered by PANDA
• Join the Circle of support
• Follow @pinkelephantssupport on Instagram.

Pink Elephants thanks the Australian Government for their support in funding this podcast series under the Miscarriage Support grant.

In this episode, our host Stacey has a powerful conversation with comedian Sashi Perera, who shares her journey through four miscarriages and a taxing course of fertility treatments.

Sashi immediately addresses the societal pressure to be "sad all the time" when experiencing loss, noting that she rejects the equation that anything less than a successful birth equals failure. As a comedian, she has used her writing and performance as a vital outlet to take control of her narrative and process her grief through a lens of dark humour.

The first miscarriage was the hardest, as Sashi and her partner—a private person—had to figure out a balanced way to grieve. Sashi realized the silence and shame would crush her, making it necessary to share her story openly, an action her partner bravely supported.

Sashi details the relentless medical advice to "go again," despite her successful conception and repeated losses. A turning point came after her third miscarriage when the Red Cross told her she couldn't donate blood for six months to allow her body to recover. This was the first time a medical entity validated her need for rest.

After the fourth loss and recognizing that the hormone injections had severely affected her mental health and equilibrium, Sashi and her partner made a conscious, courageous decision to hit the brakes on the IVF process. This allowed her to prioritize her health and confront the challenging question: "How can we still find joy if this doesn't happen for us?"

Sashi emphasizes that deciding to stop is a conscious, personal choice. She advises looking at the total cost—financial, physical, relational, and mental—and making peace with the reality that life will still be okay. This decision-making process allows her to hold the steering wheel of her life again, protecting herself with emotional "cotton wool" (such as skipping baby showers) and giving herself protected space to grieve.

You can find Sashi on Instagram here: @sashbomb

EARLY PREGNANCY LOSS SUPPORT
If you or someone you know has experienced miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, please know you are not alone.

• For crisis support, please call Lifeline - 13 11 14.
• Access all our support
• Connect through Live Chat with Peer Support
• Join Online Communities
• Call out Pregnancy Loss helpline delivered by PANDA
• Join the Circle of support
• Follow @pinkelephantssupport on instagram.

STACEY JUNE LEWIS
You can follow our host Stacey on her personal Instagram account where she shares some of her lived experience.

Pink Elephants thanks the Australian Government for their support in funding this podcast series under the Miscarriage Support grant.

In this vital episode, the host speaks with two pillars of the Pink Elephants Support Network—Chairperson Katrina Groshinsky and Board Director Emma Costello—to discuss the organization's journey from breaking the silence to achieving systemic change.

Katrina and Emma reflect on how Pink Elephants has shifted its focus from simply talking about miscarriage to ensuring every woman in Australia who suffers loss, along with her family, receives evidence-based support and acknowledgement.

Emma details the hard-fought advocacy work, noting that a key challenge was cutting through government noise to make the message heard. The breakthrough came with the federal government's announcement of a $9.5 million miscarriage package in 2025—a phenomenal success that represents overdue recognition for the community. She emphasizes that the system needs to change so that any woman experiencing loss—whether with a GP, in an ED, or a hospital—is met with the right information, resources, and, crucially, the right tone.

Katrina highlights the critical win of Leave for Loss legislation (September 2021), which granted women and their partners the right to take time to grieve, acknowledging the devastating mental health and productivity issues caused by returning to work too quickly.

While the government funding is "very welcome and needed," it is tied to specific programs (tailored digital support, peer support, and advocacy). Both leaders stress that it doesn't cover the broader advocacy work, noting an 85% oversubscription to services, which tragically forces them to turn women away.

The conversation concludes with a shared vision of hope for the future. Their goals include:

• A "virtual circle of support" around every woman experiencing loss.
• Achieving better data collection through a question on the census, believing that "what gets counted, gets funded."
• Ensuring universal support and referral for all women, regardless of location or cultural background, affirming that support is a fundamental human right.

EARLY PREGNANCY LOSS SUPPORT
If you or someone you know has experienced miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, please know you are not alone.

• For crisis support, please call Lifeline - 13 11 14.
• Access all our support
• Connect through Live Chat with Peer Support
• Join Online Communities
• Call out Pregnancy Loss helpline delivered by PANDA
• Join the Circle of support
• Follow @pinkelephantssupport on instagram.

In this crucial episode, our hosts are joined by Pink Elephants Service Delivery Manager Sophie Porter to dissect the traumatic reality of the "silence of scans" and the broken models of care for early pregnancy loss, drawing on both her research and lived experience.

Sophie shares that literature and community stories clearly show that when women's needs are unmet at the point of care, their grief is compounded, often leading to long-term anxiety, depression, and PTSD. The current system frequently routes women to Emergency Departments, forcing them to wait for hours—often next to patients with minor injuries—because their loss is classified as "non-urgent." This experience strips them of dignity and is exacerbated by a lack of sensitive communication.

The "profound silence" often begins during the scan, where the sonographer’s blank face delivers the devastating news without words. This silence reverberates, leaving women to advocate for themselves in a system that fails to meet their basic needs. This deficient care is not limited to public hospitals; it is also reported in fertility clinics and is particularly severe in rural and remote settings, where a lack of services strips women of autonomy and may expose them to inappropriate settings like maternity wards.

Sophie and the host agree that the issue is systemic—a failure of public health to unite physical and mental well-being—and is no longer acceptable. The urgent change needed is the implementation of new policy guidelines and comprehensive, mandated training in sensitive communication for all health professionals, from receptionists to GPs. The status quo is not good enough.

EARLY PREGNANCY LOSS SUPPORT
If you or someone you know has experienced miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, please know you are not alone.

• For crisis support, please call Lifeline - 13 11 14.
• Access all our support
• Connect through Live Chat with Peer Support
• Join Online Communities
• Call out Pregnancy Loss helpline delivered by PANDA
• Join the Circle of support
• Follow @pinkelephantssupport on Instagram.

STACEY JUNE LEWIS
You can follow our host Stacey on her personal Instagram account where she shares some of her lived experience.

Pink Elephants thanks the Australian Government for their support in funding this podcast series under the Miscarriage Support grant.

In this candid episode, the host welcomes Jackie Maloney to share her journey through recurrent pregnancy loss and her fierce advocacy for the grief community in Western Australia.

Jackie recounts the devastation of her first loss which led to intense, unmanaged anger and isolation, where her coping mechanism was to return to work immediately and silence any conversation about her grief. Two years later, a second loss was terrifying. Jackie explains that her losses disrupted her personal narrative and identity, leaving her currently childless not by choice and struggling daily with triggering questions like, "How many children do you have?"

The second loss was a turning point, which prompted her to "do things differently." She shared openly and discovered a widespread hidden community of women who thanked her for finding the words they couldn't. This experience taught her to articulate her needs by asking friends to switch from, "How are you?" to "What can I do?" and to simply acknowledge the difficult due dates.

Jackie has channelled her pain into purpose by becoming the Chair of the King Edward Memorial Hospital Rose Garden committee in Western Australia. This beautiful, hidden sanctuary holds the ashes of an estimated 45,000 lost babies. Jackie highlights the garden's power as a safe, physical space for grieving mothers to connect and reflect, creating the vital ritual so often missed after early loss.

The episode concludes with a powerful call to action: The "gap" after leaving the hospital—where women are given no follow-up and no information for emotional support—must be filled. Jackie argues that the alarmingly different levels of care are unacceptable and only exacerbate the disenfranchised grief felt by those searching for validation.

EARLY PREGNANCY LOSS SUPPORT
If you or someone you know has experienced miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, please know you are not alone.

• For crisis support, please call Lifeline - 13 11 14.
• Access all our support
• Connect through Live Chat with Peer Support
• Join Online Communities
• Call out Pregnancy Loss helpline delivered by PANDA
• Join the Circle of support
• Follow @pinkelephantssupport on Instagram.

STACEY JUNE LEWIS
You can follow our host Stacey on her personal Instagram account where she shares some of her lived experience.

Pink Elephants thanks the Australian Government for their support in funding this podcast series under the Miscarriage Support grant.

In this candid and vulnerable episode, Stacey welcomes Sarah Viliamu, a fierce advocate and content creator, to discuss navigating the deep isolation of recurrent pregnancy loss and the lingering anxieties of a subsequent pregnancy.

Sarah shares her personal experience of enduring a missed miscarriage and a subsequent second loss after a complicated conception journey for her second child. She speaks openly about the profound grief that consumed over a year of her life, highlighting the intense shock of being told she was miscarrying despite feeling perfectly fine. This period of loss was made even more difficult while simultaneously trying to show up as a parent to her five-year-old son and managing public-facing work.

Now in her third trimester with a rainbow baby girl, Sarah reveals that the losses robbed her of the joy often associated with pregnancy. She felt compelled to hide the pregnancy from her eldest son to spare him the confusion and sadness of another potential loss, a painful choice illustrating the lasting impact of her trauma.

The core of the discussion centres on the power of connection and sharing. Sarah emphasizes that vocalization is key to stopping the cycle of rumination and dark thoughts. She strongly advocates for finding safe environments to share, praising Pink Elephants' support groups. Even if the response from friends or family isn't what's expected the act of journaling or naming your feelings is cathartic and healing. Finally, Sarah shares her daily practice of matching negative thoughts with gratitude to manage the constant anxiety that remains even in the final stage of her pregnancy.

You can find Sarah on Instagram @sarahviliamu

EARLY PREGNANCY LOSS SUPPORT
If you or someone you know has experienced miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, please know you are not alone.

• For crisis support, please call Lifeline - 13 11 14.
• Access all our support
• Connect through Live Chat with Peer Support
• Join Online Communities
• Call out Pregnancy Loss helpline delivered by PANDA
• Join the Circle of support
• Follow @pinkelephantssupport on Instagram.

STACEY JUNE LEWIS
You can follow our host Stacey on her personal Instagram account where she shares some of her lived experience.

Pink Elephants thanks the Australian Government for their support in funding this podcast series under the Miscarriage Support grant.

In this vital episode, Claire Brett, Pink Elephants' Rural and Regional Ambassador, offers a heartbreaking look at the reality of miscarriage and recurrent loss outside of metropolitan areas. Claire shares her personal journey through five losses (including a missed miscarriage) and the devastating lack of compassionate care and education she received.

Claire recounts the profound shock and isolation after her first loss. Seeking medical care, she encountered a specialist who callously dismissed her anxieties, claiming women "overdramatize." She was forced to hide her grief just to secure a necessary procedure, illustrating a painful survival tactic where the medical system minimizes a woman's pain and inhibits emotional healing.

For regional women, the logistics of loss and subsequent pregnancies are terrifying. Claire highlights a massive "equitable access" gap, sharing that she had a panic attack while driving 65km alone for a vital scan during her successful pregnancy. This anxiety is fuelled by systemic issues:

• Extended Waits: Weeks to see a GP and days-long delays for vital blood test results intensify Pregnancy After Loss (PAL) anxiety.
• Dangerous Travel: Accessing essential procedures often requires driving hundreds of kilometres to a city hospital.

Claire argues that rural patients "don’t choose to go to hospital and have no support"—they deserve the same standard of care. She calls for two critical changes to address this safety deficit:

1. National Rollout of Early Pregnancy Assessment Services (EPAS).
2. Specialized PAL Care with unique, consistent support.

Finally, Claire demands that hospitals treat a miscarriage with the same post-delivery accountability as a live birth, requiring mandatory mental health check-ins before discharge.

EARLY PREGNANCY LOSS SUPPORT
If you or someone you know has experienced miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, please know you are not alone.

• For crisis support, please call Lifeline - 13 11 14.
• Access all our support
• Connect through Live Chat with Peer Support
• Join Online Communities
• Call out Pregnancy Loss helpline delivered by PANDA
• Join the Circle of support
• Follow @pinkelephantssupport on Instagram.

STACEY JUNE LEWIS
You can follow our host Stacey on her personal Instagram account where she shares some of her lived experience.

Pink Elephants thanks the Australian Government for their support in funding this podcast series under the Miscarriage Support grant.

Welcome back to The Miscarriage Rebellion! Season 2 launches with a powerful catch-up, reflecting on significant organizational milestones and deep personal journeys. The hosts celebrate major advancements in the early pregnancy loss space, particularly for Pink Elephants, which has secured crucial federal government funding. Host Stacey officially joins the organization, now running the Grief and Grace program, offering new hope and bringing her professional expertise to the community.

Stacey shares the challenging context of her journey: she was pregnant with her "rainbow baby," Sonny, while recording Season 1, a pregnancy that followed seven miscarriages and involved the loss of a twin. She explains that the decision to share her story now reflects the reality that there is no "right time" to share, especially when grief is compounded by multiple losses. This vulnerability highlights the immense courage and resilience required to navigate the acute anxiety of Pregnancy After Loss (PAL) while working in the space.

Our hosts emphasize that the emotional fallout from loss often infiltrates parenting after loss, causing heightened fear. Sam shares her personal experience, noting that while she struggled with dissociation and anxiety after her first baby, seeking early support in her subsequent pregnancy profoundly shifted her experience. This demonstrated that timely support can help parents process trauma and reclaim the time that felt stolen by the continuous cycle of loss.

As they look ahead, Sam and Stacey confirm that Season 2 will focus on amplifying diverse voices, and affirm the importance of emotional literacy, and providing peer support as essential tools for validating the miscarriage experience and transforming the grieving process.

EARLY PREGNANCY LOSS SUPPORT
If you or someone you know has experienced miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, please know you are not alone.

• For crisis support, please call Lifeline - 13 11 14.
• Access all our support
• Connect through Live Chat with Peer Support
• Join Online Communities
• Call out Pregnancy Loss helpline delivered by PANDA
• Join the Circle of support
• Follow @pinkelephantssupport on Instagram.

STACEY JUNE LEWIS
You can follow our host Stacey on her personal Instagram account where she shares some of her lived experience.

Pink Elephants thanks the Australian Government for their support in funding this podcast series under the Miscarriage Support grant.

Today we welcome Tarla Lambert to our last episode of The Miscarriage Rebellion for 2023. Tarla is the Editor in Chief & Co-Owner at Women’s Agenda, Australia's leading online news site championing women in their lives and careers. Tarla is regular commentator on politics and women’s news, appearing on Sky News and ABC and speaking at various events promoting equality.

Today Tarla bravely shares her personal journey of pregnancy loss, taking us through the challenges she faced in navigating the healthcare system and the profound impact it had on her emotional well-being.

The episode dives into the stigma and shame associated with miscarriage, exploring the societal and systemic factors that contribute to the minimisation of women's health issues. Tarla, drawing from her experience and professional background, highlights the need for better support networks, early intervention, and increased funding for research in the field of women's health.

This episode will give you insight into the emotional toll of miscarriage, the need for validation and empathy, and the critical role of support networks. The conversation extends to the broader goals of "The Miscarriage Rebellion" movement, emphasising the need for systemic changes, increased funding, and the importance of amplifying individual stories to effect real change.

We wrap up the season with a heartfelt thank-you to the brave women who shared their stories, the dedicated listeners, and a promise to continue The Miscarriage Rebellion in 2024. The episode serves as a powerful reflection on the progress made and a call-to-action for continued support and awareness in the realm of early pregnancy loss.

Get in touch with Tarla: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarlalambertadvertising/

Follow Women’s Agenda: https://instagram.com/womensagenda?igshid=NGVhN2U2NjQ0Yg==

EARLY PREGNANCY LOSS SUPPORT
If you or someone you know has experienced miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, please know you are not alone.

• For crisis support, please call Lifeline - 13 11 14.
• Access all our support
• Connect with Peer Support
• Join Online Communities
• Emotional Support Resources
• Follow @pinkelephantssupport

STACEY JUNE LEWIS
If you’d like to reach out to Stacey for counselling she is currently taking new clients. Find out more via her Website or Instagram.

You can also follow her personal Instagram account where she shares some of her lived experience.

JOIN THE MISCARRIAGE REBELLION
Pink Elephants believe everyone deserves support following the loss of their baby.

We have been providing support to many ten's of thousands of people for nearly 8 years, raising funds through generous donors. We now need ongoing Government support to empower our circle of support.

We are calling on the Government to provide us with $1.6million over 4 years to help bridge the gap. Sign our petition.