How the Perrys found support and hopeat a walk for bereaved parents

"In that moment, you feel like you're the only people in the entire world that have that grief," Mrs Perry said.

It was hard "finding people that understood" but a small package from a charity, Bears for Hope, started the family's healing journey.

It contained a teddy bear named in honour of Xander along with other postnatal care items, and extended an offer of counselling and support.

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"It was so important to us," Mr Perry said.

On October 15 of this year, the Perrys and many other bereaved Launceston families who have experienced the loss of a child through miscarriage and other causes of infant death walked together along the Tamar to remember the lives of their children and raise funds for Bears for Hope.

The annual Choosing Hope Walk to Remember - which has been running in Launceston for six years - is an event for those who have gone through experiences like the Perrys to realise they are not alone.

Miscarriages occur in around one in four pregnancies according to Miscarriage Australia, with over 100,000 couples experiencing it annually.

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"This is a coming together where we're supporting each other and letting people speak about their experience and their baby," said Codie Baylis, founder of support group Cubs Club Playgroup, which organises the event.

"There's still a lot of isolation when it comes to being a bereaved parent; the walk combats that."

Taking part in the walk from Riverbend park to Royal park and back, the Perrys said they were grateful for two things: the destigmatising work of Choosing Hope and the latest addition to their family, Emmett, who was born in August.

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"We'd been trying for ten years and now we have our little baby," Mrs Perry said.

"It's still hard [having lost Xander,] but it gets better."

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