Families gathered at War Memorial Park in Tauranga on Saturday for a Bubble Walk to honour children lost to miscarriage, stillbirth or infant death, known as rainbow babies.

Losing a child can be isolating, leaving parents to grieve in silence. Belinda Roddick, organiser of the Bubble Walk and Baby Loss Awareness Tauranga, aims to create a space for connection among those mourning.

“It feels good to share this with someone who knows what you are going through,” Roddick said.

She said the walk wound its way around War Memorial Park, blowing bubbles and listening to songs that would allow these grieving parents time to reflect and relax.

“We generally lose some people at the playground because they’ve got kids.”

Roddick wants to grow the movement and create a group space for parents to share their stories in a safe environment, but she needs help.

“I don’t know how it’s going to work, but we can only try each year.”

Bubble Walk participants walked along Devonport Rd, and there were tears in eyes as families remembered their lost loved ones. Photo / Tom Eley

There is next to no support for mothers of rainbow children, and even getting those who are grieving to open up can be challenging, the founder of True Colours, a mental health organisation for mothers in Tauranga, Michelle Hall, said.

“It would be great to be able to create more of a support service and groups and things like that,” she said.

“But all of that takes funding and infrastructure as well.”

To put off one’s grief can cause all sorts of long-term issues impacting both mental and physical health, she said, and being able to talk about these losses allows the person to move forward.

“I know the power of healing that can happen when women come together and go, ‘Well, I’ve experienced this, whether it’s depression, anxiety or baby loss’.”

Hall admits it can be difficult, as not everyone is comfortable having these difficult conversations. Often, when people open up, those responding to them may inadvertently cause more harm.

“I think part of it is having the conversation and keeping it simple in terms of just, ‘I’m really sorry about that. Do you want to talk about it? Is there anything I can do?’

“You don’t need to fix it. You probably won’t fix it.”

The topic of losing a child used to be something that Massage After Miscarriage founder Michelle Topham used to keep bottled up, but that all changed when she found she wanted to help people.

“I’ve seen it with a lot of stories. You start people talking. Yeah, and people start talking about their experiences,” Topham said.

The Bubble Walk in Tauranga's War Memorial Park brought families from across the city together to heal and relax.

Roddick and Baby Loss Awareness Tauranga plan to form a Facebook group where people can connect and share.

“One person can change the world for one,” Roddick said.

“As a mum that’s lost a couple [of kids], I know what it was like to leave the hospital, and I know what it was like not to have people.”