Rochelle Olsen, The Baby Loss Mentor, marking Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month

After Rochelle Olsen's son Edward died at just seven hours old, her whole life changed.

She was a pharmacist but found the combination of "grief brain" and her emotional distress difficult when dealing with customers. Ms Olsen said she was faking it until she made it.

When her second son Jock was born, Ms Olsen sold Dubbo Grove Pharmacy to her business partner.

She realised there were gaps in the health system for baby loss mums like herself. And after seeing more than 100 people attend a ceremony at the clock tower for pregnancy and infant loss awareness The Baby Mentor was born.

ALSO MAKING NEWS:

October is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.

Through The Baby Mentor Ms Olsen has a raft of events planned, including an extra special night on October 15 in honour of International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

In partnership with the National Association for Loss and Grief (NALAG), The Baby Mentor will be holding a virtual remembrance ceremony at 6.45pm through its website and social media.

It will be followed by the International Wave of Light from 7pm. Participants across the world are encouraged to light a candle at 7pm local time in remembrance of their lost children.

Ms Olsen said The Baby Loss Mentor is her way of parenting Edward, who was born on July 17, 2016. Through this month and the events she hosts, she also wants to increase the awareness of baby loss.

"It's still very taboo. From a friends and family point of view there's still a real lack of knowledge about how to help a person and their family when a baby dies and how to have those conversations. They're really hard conversations but the time to be stoic is long past," she said.

"There needs to be talk about it and people don't need to be frightened to talk to a baby loss mum about their baby that's died. They're not going to remind us that it happened because we don't ever forget that. They're not going to offend us by using their name and talking about them, or putting them on a Christmas card. It's actually really heartwarming to know they've got the courage to talk to you about it.

"I think raising awareness is really important so you don't feel isolated and alone when you come home. The more it's out there, the more people understand."

Like discussions around mental health and suicide, Ms Olsen said she believed society was getting better at talking about baby loss.

"Hopefully these events will help so we can help more baby loss mums and let them know they're not alone. We're only a little community, it's not huge. My hope is for every baby loss mum in all of Australia to be in it, but all in Dubbo and the region would be beautiful and there are a few of us striving to make that happen," Ms Olsen said.

Her business is built around her own lived experience, as well as the training she undertook in loss and mentoring.

Ms Olsen describes coming out of hospital without a baby as an overwhelming field of flowers with no idea of what to pick. She wants to hand people a simple bouquet of those flowers so they know where to turn.

"When you're a year down the track, two years down the track, you really want to find light in your life again, you start moving forward. You're not so much stuck in that grief and you need someone who really understands to help you move forward and be proactive, not just reactive to the situations you find yourself in," she said.

"You're still going to have an anniversary, you're still going to have a birthday, you're still having all this stuff but the world is moving forward without your baby.

"So my idea is to be able to help women honour their baby in a way that's authentic to them but also to be present and live a life that will still allow them to be happy."

For more information on the Baby Loss Mentor events planned for the month, head to rowellbeing.com.