Telstra Awards leads to a dream connection.

I'm super proud of this special collaboration between The Pink Elephants Support Network and Love to Dream.

Since I won the NSW Telstra Women in Business For Purpose and Social Enterprise Award in April, I’ve been working hard to follow up with some of the amazing connections the alumni and the awards evening has opened up for me. 

I met Hana & Gavin at the NSW Telstra Women in Business Awards event and we began chatting about the success of Pink Elephants and all we had achieved. I quickly worked out who 'they' were - the ONLY thing that had helped me settle my baby boy to sleep was his Love To Dream Swaddles - they worked so well!

Then literally three years later the universe delivered and I'm meeting the founders of Love to Dream at the Telstra Awards. I said to them, 'Let’s collaborate!' and discussed the impact we were having on a similar target audience. Hana & Gavin agreed and over the last few months we've been making this happen. I'm excited to share that on the 1st October the beginning of October Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month, we launched our very special collaboration - A Rainbow Swaddle Up.

A rainbow baby is a term given to a baby born after the mum has lost other babies to pregnancy loss. It’s a beautiful symbol of hope and a gentle nod to the babies passed. This collaboration will not only raise much needed funds for The Pink Elephants Support Network to increase our #circleofsupport to all loss parents. It will also shine a light on pregnancy loss and raise awareness of the impact whilst spreading an incredible message of hope for those experiencing pregnancy loss right now. This is why the decision to launch during October Pregnancy Loss Awareness Month is so apt.

In true Pink Elephants style, we have taken this one step further. After identifying how little information is out there for women enduring the rollercoaster of emotions during Pregnancy After Loss, we've created a safe space on our website where women's journeys to their rainbow baby journeys can be shared to offer hope and validation to other rainbow mummas. This page is connected to our online support group specific for mothers who are pregnant again after loss.

One of the mums from our Pregnancy After Loss group who recently had her special rainbow baby, shared the below image of her bub in the Rainbow Swaddle Up.

She said, "We were so excited to find out we were expecting, but then a couple of weeks later I started spotting and a trip to emergency confirmed we were losing our baby. The doctor came in and told us, followed by discharging us. No information in hand, nothing. Heartbroken, searching Google for answers I came across The Pink Elephants Support Network, and thank gosh I did. I honestly would have been lost without the amazing women sharing their own experiences and helping me through this devastating time.

A few months passed, and finally pushing through the anxiety of trying again, we fell pregnant. A whole new level of anxiety began. At 9 weeks I started bleeding. A panicked trip to emergency showed our precious rainbow was ok.

The anxiety continued through the pregnancy, then on the 26th of August 2019 we welcomed our beautiful baby boy into the world and we are so in love. So thankful for all the support I revived from The Pink Elephants Support Network."

Dreams really do come true, with a lot of hard work and meaningful connections. I can't wait to share more as this collaboration grows. To purchase your swaddle and celebrate your own or a friend's rainbow baby, head to https://lovetodream.com.au/rainbow

#sharedvalues #circleofsupport #rainbowbaby #pregnancyloss