What does the term 'Rainbow Baby' mean? Have you heard this used?

A rainbow baby is defined as a baby/babies born after the loss of a previous baby. Thus loss can be from miscarriage, stillbirth, mfr, neonatal death (plus many others). We can also apply this term to babies adopted following loss too.

The rainbow symbol has been used by members of the baby loss community for years. It was chosen as reminder that a rainbow typically follows a storm, giving us hope of what's to come. Likewise, rainbow babies bring love and light after a period of darkness. It is important to remember that yes a rainbow follows a storm but that doesn't mean parents regard their previous babies as a storm. Instead it symbolises hope after a difficult time.

The pregnancy and birth of a rainbow baby is often a challenging and emotional time and can bring up many conflicting feelings of happiness, grief, anxiety, excitement and guilt but there is never a 'right' way of navigating this. It is very personal!