Readers are advised this story discusses stillbirths and contains photos and other content that may be distressing to some people.
Mothers who have experienced a stillbirth in regional hospitals are calling for widespread access to bereavement rooms for other families coping with the same loss.
One mother has started a petition urging the Commonwealth to act.
Sophie Tonneguzzi was 20 weeks' pregnant when she had a stillbirth in Newcastle in 2020.
Before giving birth, she was seated to wait in a lunch room, where two nurses were having lunch.
"It's one of the most traumatic things I've ever gone through … and to have to sit in the lunch room?" she said.
"There needs to be a designated area for the family."
Ms Tonneguzzi could hear the sounds of other women giving birth around her, while she was giving birth to Huxley.
"It's traumatic enough having to give birth to a stillborn," she said.
"You're sitting in the hospital bed, holding your lifeless baby. Then you have to sit there and listen to all these newborns crying, mothers giving birth to their live babies.
"The pain is indescribable."
Ms Tonneguzzi said if the hospital had a bereavement room it would have made a huge difference.
"I was in shock. I thought, maybe we'll give birth in the birthing suite and then we'd go somewhere else … but our entire stay was in the birthing suite.
"You just want to spend that time with your baby, in peace."
Calls for a standard policy, to ensure best care for families
Laura Hipwell gave birth to her daughter Leonie Ringo in Bendigo in October 2022.
She also heard the sounds of other mothers giving birth and babies crying.
"It just feels really unfair," she said.
"We were just trying to appreciate the precious time we had, just trying to really appreciate this beautiful little girl that we had created."
She said the staff and facilities were great and her family was given a lot of privacy and respect.
But Ms Hipwell said there needed to be a nationwide policy to ensure others received the same level of care.
"I think they need to have a policy, where they try to minimise the amount of sound from other families," she said.
"Resources and memory-making opportunities need to be given and they need to make sure no-one is rushed."
A lot of the support Ms Hipwell received was funded by infant loss support charity Bears of Hope.
"We were so glad Bendigo has a cuddle cot. A lot of hospitals don't have that," she said.
"If families want to spend time with their [baby], they have to go back and forth to the mortuary."
Ms Tonneguzzi also wants to see more conversation and education around stillbirths, to ensure women, babies and their families get the best care possible.
A Department of Health spokesperson said the federal government was committed to reducing stillbirths and supporting families.
"The National Stillbirth Action and Implementation Plan 2020–30 will be delivered in partnership with states and territories," the spokesperson said.
"From 2019 to 2026, the government has allocated $44.5 million to reduce stillbirths and support families affected by stillbirth. This includes supporting bereavement care for higher-risk population groups and funding to Red Nose Australia to continue the Hospital to Home Program."
A Victorian state government spokesperson said it was working with maternal health services to improve outcomes for women.
"This may include the addition of bereavement spaces when building or upgrading new maternity facilities."
The spokesperson said every Victorian health service offered different maternity facilities and several provided dedicated spaces for perinatal loss.
