SIKESTON — The Missouri Delta Medical Center Foundation will shine a light on the unspoken by countering silence with support for pregnancy and infant loss awareness.

The Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Event by Missouri Delta Foundation will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 26 on the front lawn of Missouri Delta Medical Center.

This is the inaugural year for the event, but according to Sarah Beth Ross, director of Missouri Delta’s Women and Children’s Services, it is going to become an annual occasion.

Ross said the event is free and will have caramel apples, hot chocolate and other treats. Ross said T-shirts will be available for purchase, and they are accepting donations for their food and drinks.

“We will have samples of memorabilia and information displayed that we offer our families after the loss of a pregnancy or infant,” Ross said. “We also will have information regarding Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month from the National Share Chapter based in St. Louis, Missouri.”

According to Ross, the Share Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Chapter is a community for anyone who has experienced the heartbreaking death of a baby. For more than 45 years, the Share chapter has supported parents, grandparents, siblings and others in the family unit, as well as professionals who care for mourning families.

Ross said the decision to have the event was made to honor the babies whose lives were cut short.

“We want to bring awareness to the vast number of babies that are lost each year and to provide support for the families who have tragically lost their sweet baby,” Ross said.

Ross said it’s important to address pregnancy and infant loss issues and to raise awareness in our community.

“Death is a hard topic to talk about as it is,” Ross said. “The death of a baby is an even more difficult topic to discuss.

Ross continued: “We want to provide our families who have suffered such a tragic loss with as much memorabilia, support, love, information and resources as possible here at Missouri Delta Women and Children’s Services.”

According to Ross, one in every four pregnancies ends in loss, one in every 160 newborns is born still, and 24,000 infants die each year.

“With this being said, we all know someone who has had a miscarriage, had a baby born still or lost an infant,” Ross said.

Ross said Missouri Delta Women and Children’s Services wants families who are grieving to know they are not alone in their suffering.

“We want to help these families honor and remember their babies, and we want to provide them with the resources and information to help make that possible,” Ross said.

From Left to Right, Sarah Beth Ross, director of Missouri Delta’s Women and Children’s Services, Mallory Woods, RN, Missouri Delta’s Women and Children’s Services and Ashlee Woodward, RN, Missouri Delta’s Women and Children’s Services.